Jin Ya'nan: Touch, Cut, Construct
Beijing
December 21st, 2024 - February 28th, 2025
Jin Ya'nan: Touch Cut Construct
Jin Ya'nan: Touch, Cut, Construct
Artists: Jin Ya'nan
Exhibition：Touch, Cut, Construct
Duration：December 21st, 2024 - February 28th, 2025
Opening: 4:00 PM, Saturday, December 21st, 2024
Jin Ya'nan received extensive formal training in sculptural modeling at the Sculpture Department of the China Academy of Art. For him, sculpture is a material form that mediates between history and reality, acting as a portrait of societal systems. In his work, sculpture functions as a method of creation, a means of occupation, and a device for dialogue.
In this exhibition, Jin Ya'nan condenses his creative process into three actions: Touch, Cut, Construct. “Touching is prolonged and gentle, evoking a sublime transformation of images. Cutting is a brief act of violence, creating a distortion of the everyday. Constructing becomes the staging of a temporary performance, turning a space into a frenzied altar: southern fruits, northern air, crises on all sides, severed limbs, and the body of a guitar.”
Like a long-lasting movement, Jin Ya'nan uses these three actions to respond to the enduring art of sculpture: gazing, clashing, rebuilding. The act of smoothing seems reductive but simultaneously layers traces. It appears gentle, yet it erases the solid; it seems like a tribute, but it devours its subject. As the image recedes, the vitality of the object comes to the fore. Everyday objects, through a shift in conceptual perspective, are severed from their inherent functions ("objecthood") and transformed into subjects of observation. What is cut is not just the object itself, but also the mechanisms by which the world operates. The old order dissolves; fragmented pieces regenerate independently. Performances, revelries, ascents, or descents emerge, guided by a tenuous belief.
Touch, Cut, Construct also serves as an inquiry into the process of sculpture itself. The shaping of form, the intensification of material textures, and the tactile control over surfaces—these objective considerations of the artwork’s essence imbue Jin Ya'nan's creations with a quiet yet enduring tension.
ABOUT ARTIST
Jin Ya'nan born in 1986 in Hangzhou, Jin Ya'nan graduated from the Sculpture Department of the China Academy of Art in 2012. Since 2013, he has been teaching at the department’s Inter-disciplinary Sculpture Studio. In 2017, he initiated the "T-Project" as its chief planner. He currently lives and works in Hangzhou.
Jin Ya'nan is particularly interested in dialogic relationships within localized contexts. Earlier in his career, he explored the dynamics between individuals and collectives through participation in art groups and collaborative projects. Later, he ventured into public service, investigating how misaligned logic across hierarchical levels in community design and urban planning led to negotiation breakdowns. In recent years, Jin has focused on the differentiated behaviors of individuals or collective units within collaborative mechanisms. By constructing metaphorical designs addressing institutional structures, he seeks to enhance the possibilities for dialogue and mutual aggression among units. These designs are partly presented through the narrative threads and spatial arrangements in his works, and partly through long-term project planning.
