Music, Nature and Self

For someone who asserts herself as a digital native and has embraced the use of technology in her art, there is an organic quality and intimate musicality to Lin’s work that one does not expect. In an early painting Ode to Reality, Lin gives us insight into her inner world by using animal symbols such as penguins and seals to represent her innermost desires. Her fascination with birds extends into her digital artworks, where she depicts birds in communication with each other, as if a whimsical take on the advent of Twitter. Rhythmic qualities are often seen in the translucent, almost ethereal abstract oil paintings that capture her observations of nature. One painting from her Aqua series, How Deep is the Ocean? features undulating lines and brushstrokes that appear to be dancing on the canvas, playing with the sublime beauty one associates with water and nature. At the same time, it alludes to Man’s constant attempts to master and to know it. But her musical training is most evident in her Abstraction in Music series, where paintings like Water Music and Jupiter Symphony express her deep appreciation for Western classical music. And ever the intrepid explorer, Lin started to improvise and compose musical pieces in her teens. From the mid-1980s onwards, Lin wrote computer programmes that produced pieces of classical music without analogue or digital sound samplings, and without the use of a sound card, external synthesiser or midi-instruments. Before you go, do spend some time in the anteroom of this gallery, where you can listen to pieces of her digitally composed original music and read a selection of her poetic musings. I do hope this exhibition has introduced to you Lin Hsin Hsin’s unique perspectives and left you with a better understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of her artistic practice.