Linda Tien

Apr 20

Bloomington, IN, USA - This submission from Artist, Linda Tien, really explores the visceral edge of art. Her piece “The Perfect Fit” translates as an interactive experience through the screen!

Bio from the Artist: Linda Tien is a Vietnamese-American visual artist from Fort Worth, TX. Linda has a background in metalsmithing & jewelry design but she has always worked across media and formats including sculpture, performance, installation and video. She received her BFA in 2011 at Texas Tech University and her MFA in 2016 from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.

For Linda, making is a way to process and explore her Asian identity through the presentation of interior experience. Initially, her work focused on self-perception in terms of social expectations, pop culture and the individual experience of negotiating these external forces. With a desire to be unconcerned with others' expectation of her identity and her performance of it, Linda's work has evolved into an investigation of interstitial existence and the pursual of transcending social constructs. Employing actions of replication, simulation and imitation, she demonstrates the emotional weight and qualities of identity while portraying its encompassing ability to be multitudinous-restricting, liberating and anything in between at any given moment.

She has become increasingly interested in visceral relationships between the body, objects and materials, and what the perception and interpretation of these dynamics might suggest or reveal. The most current study of this topic takes the form of a collaborative project called the Im-pl-ment Archive with visual artist Ellen Kleckner. Through the investigation of form, texture, composition and material, the Im-ple-ment Archive is an exploration of tools, utensils and other pieces of equipment used for a particular purpose. For Linda, this project calls into question the convention of identity and names by creating objects and tools that resemble, reference and mimic commonplace items.

In addition to her artistic practice, Linda also has many years’ experience in curation and gallery work. She has curated for several galleries including the galleries at the Appalachian Center for Craft (Smithville, TN), The Fuller Projects (Bloomington, IN), the Columbus Museum of Art + Design (Columbus, IN) and now currently works as the Program Coordinator for the Grunwald Gallery of Art at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN).

Linda's practice has certainly been impacted by the pandemic, in both bitter and sweet ways. The pandemic has motivated her to complete and get organized in her home studio, but also prompted the cancellation/indefinite postponement of two residencies and two Im-ple-ment Archive exhibitions. Additionally, disparaging language used when discussing COVID has intensified xenophobic sentiments, as evidenced by the recent numerous assaults, attacks and killings of Asians. For Linda, the amplification of conversations about the degrading and dehumanizing dynamics that come with being Asian have affirmed the importance of making and sharing her work.

Description from the Artist: I've included two different selections of work, both exploring themes of identity, replication, imitation and simulation. The first body of work is based on my personal experiences as an Asian-American woman. This body of work seeks to display the interior experience of negotiating identity. The second body of work is the Im-ple-ment Archive, a collaborative project with visual artist Ellen Kleckner. With this work, I am interested in the way in which people react and interact with the implements.

Find more from Linda on her website and Instagram, and more about Im-ple-ment on it’s website and Instagram.