Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1387796
F or Skinned Table, Joyce Lin used a razor blade to dissect layers of veneer from an old table, which she mounted to its exposed underbelly on brass pegs, like a biological specimen. The table is surprisingly beautiful in its deconstructed form, but Lin is going for something much deeper. "In taking things apart, I'm investigating structures and materials — how things are made and where they come from — but it's also like I'm searching for the truth," Lin tells me from her Houston studio at East End Maker Hub. Skinned Table is currently featured in the prestigious "Objects: USA 2020" exhibition at R & Company in New York City, which runs through September 6. Lin, 26, is the youngest artist in the show, and her work is getting a lot of attention in the national press — Bloomberg called her a breakout star among the show's lineup of established contemporary artists such as Daniel Arsham, The Haas Brothers, and Monique Peán. Evan Snyderman, who co-founded R & Company, has described Lin as an extraordinary young visionary. Having studied both furniture at Rhode Island School of Design and biology/geology at Brown University, Lin digs beneath the surface of design with forensic fervor. "Joyce Lin is as much a scientist as she is a carpenter, continuously exploring the layers and surfaces that lie beneath our physical world," Snyderman says. Lin's future as a collectible artist is promising: When the gallery exhibited one of her $3,000 Exploded Chairs in 2019, the entire edition of eight sold out. Her public work, Home Grown, is on view at the Richmond Ave Sculpture Trail through December 31. In a play on words and materials, she created an armchair, table, and lamp from fiberglass, epoxy, and soil that appear to have sprouted from the ground. For our discussion with Joyce Lin, turn to page 78. THE EXPLOSION OF JOYCE LIN BY REBECCA SHERMAN HOUSTON ARTIST JOYCE LIN IS A BREAKOUT STAR AT THE PRESTIGIOUS "OBJECTS: USA 2020" EXHIBITION AT R & COMPANY IN NEW YORK CITY. HERE, LIN TALKS ABOUT THE WORK THAT HAS SEEN HER HAILED AS A VISIONARY NEW TALENT. "For Now We See Through A Glass Darkly," a 2019 collaborative exhibition between 3.Paradis creative director Emeric Tchatchoua and Joyce Lin at Sawyer Yards, which explored dreams and remembrance in a series of sculptural furniture objects. 68