Hai-Wen Lin

Hai-Wen Lin is an artist living somewhere beneath the sky. Their work explores constructions of their body and the attunement of oneself to the environment, often moving through metaphor, etymology, sunlight, wind, and the way time passes perfectly when you are out walking on a beautiful day. Lin is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, received a M.Des in Fashion, Body and Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BA from the University of California, Davis. Recent accolades include the Museum of Art and Design’s 2025 Burke Prize, the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation’s 2025 Visual Arts Award, and a 2025 Luminarts Visual Arts Fellowship. Lin has been an artist-in-residence of MacDowell, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Lighthouse Works, Ox-Bow School of Art, and the Grand Canyon National Park, among many others. They have offered workshops in partnership with the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Mint Museum, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art, and the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology. Their work has been featured in Hyperallergic, American Craft, SZ Magazin, and the Chicago Reader. Recent solo exhibitions include the Centre for Cultural & Artistic Practices (2025), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2025), FACILITY (2024), and Prairie (2023). Lin has also exhibited work in the Brant Gallery, the Wassaic Project, Hyde Park Art Center, the walls of their home, their friend’s home, on a plate, on a lake, on their body, in the air.