IAP in Art New England 11/12 2014

ART NEW ENGLAND online
November/December 2014

Sin-ying Ho
by Anthony Merino

“Sin-ying Ho dissects the complexity of human identity in two semi-monumental vases: Temptation: Life of Goods No.1 and One World, Many Peoples No. 2 exhibited at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA. Across the surfaces of the two vases are human forms in silhouette floating amidst a field of flowers, mimicking traditional blue and white floral patterns found in traditional Chinese porcelain imports. Ho uses the silhouette device to suggest that humans are vessels and within them are their identities.

Renaissance painter Titian’s Fall of Man serves as the template for the figures on Ho’s Temptation. Titian’s painting depicts the moment Eve plucks the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Within the silhouettes are designs inspired by Chinese coins: a circle with a square hole cut in its center. Each circle includes a corporate logo. In the end, Ho asserts that humans largely identify themselves by what they consume. Thus, this work challenges viewers to ask themselves, do you define your purchases or do they define you?”

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Photo credit: John Polak