Shirley Tse

Artist’s Statement

I am exploring sculptural processes as models of multi-dimensional thinking and negotiation. Sculpture making demands the ability to merge the abstract and the literal. A sculptor has to negotiate constantly between her concepts, their practicality as real-world existence (physics) and their relationship to the rest of the world (architectural, semantic and ethical). Sculpture requires the ability to know how to fit things together, how to problem solve and how to orchestrate elements within a whole that reflects the structure of the artist’s ideas. My interest in this fluidity, or “plasticity” as mode of sculpture is developed out of my decade-long research of plastic as a phenomenon in contemporary society. Disposability, mobility, mutation, multiplicity and conflict are ideas that inform the decisions I make in my sculptures. Plasticity, for me, also means forming connections or bonds across different fields, histories and narratives.

Website: shirleytse.com

Biography

Select Solo Exhibitions from 2010-2012

2012
Vital Organs and Other Stories, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif.

2011
Vital Organs, Rocky Mountain College Of Art + Design, Denver

2010
The Grand Hotel Abyss: Art in California During the Great Recession, I: Shirley Tse, The Grand Hotel Abyss at Left Coast Books, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Parallel World: Sara Tse and Shirley Tse, Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

Select Group Exhibitions from 2008-2011

2011
Building Blocks: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2010
Panorama: Los Angeles, ARCO Madrid, Spain

2009
Material Intelligence, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, United Kingdom

2008
Systems Theory, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, Calif.

Community-based Projects

2008
Patriot Acts, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
Fellowships and Awards

2009
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship

2009
City of Los Angeles Individual Artists Fellowship

EDUCATION

M.F.A., 1996
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif.

B.A., 1993
Fine Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong

1990-91
Education Abroad Program, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.