Chicago Artist Vin Ye's (they/them) sculptures resist both capitalism and gender roles, all the while challenging expectations of traditional art forms and modern technological art.
Queerness interacts with Ye's work in subtle ways, but they carry their identities with them through every choice they make both as an artist and someone who has struggled to learn the language and the ways of life in the U.S.
"I want to make all my experiences count," said Ye, who is a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). "I want to learn lessons from them, and I want to appreciate them. I want to honor them."
Ye's work will be exhibited at SAIC's Graduate Exhibition Two this May. Each year, the school hosts exhibitions for students to showcase their work beyond their classroom critiques. The shows are an opportunity for the public to see hundreds of unique artworks, representing the culmination of two years of work by each of the students.
Ye is a sculpture and installation artist, who came to Chicago from China, where they faced hardships for being openly queer. The isolation they felt in their hometown led to their decision to come to the U.S.
"Everything [in the U.S.] is still not that good, that friendly for me," Ye said. "[But the U.S.] allows me to stay. It doesn't have to welcome me, but at least it admits my existence; it won't really try to kill my existence."
When they arrived in Chicago to start the program, they struggled. They felt muted, especially in their first year, because they needed to learn how everything works in the States, and how to communicate in English.
"You can't really tell anybody about those difficulties, because every artist has struggles," Ye said. "And topics like how hard it is for international artists or a queer person struggling in society? They are not new topics anyways, so I tend to not really talk about this stuff. But I do want people to feel it, somehow, through my work."
They've been working on a set of three small, incredibly slow-moving objects—which aren't exactly vehicles. They will move haltingly along a curved track, which will be covered in thin sheets of a reflective stone called mica.
"It's so slow, and looks like it will break down in any possible moment," Ye said. "But this is what I want. I use connecting movements in my work a lot because when objects start moving, it just creates more possibilities."
Their work will be in one of the coveted installation rooms at the gallery, which allows them to have much more control over lighting, sound, and space. Still, they welcome a bit of chaos into the work—they can't exactly predict whether the moving objects will fall off the tracks, or bump into one another, or suddenly stop working.
Ye hopes visitors stop for a while and watch the objects as they make their way around the track.
"The magic will happen," Ye said, "But only in a few moments. And you have to have the patience to stay there to see the magic."
While the first MFA and the BFA shows have already passed, the May show will take place from May 10 through May 22. It will feature more than 82 artists, and will occupy every floor of the SAIC Washington Gallery, 33 E. Washington St. The public reception takes place Saturday, May 11 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Many of the artists will be present at the reception, including Ye.
