Installation by Jean Shin
Opening April 18, 2026, in the Focus Gallery at The Green-House at Green-Wood
Two large vessels lie on their sides, built from thousands of celadon shards. In Celadon Landscape, Jean Shin begins with what was left behind. The work took shape during her visits to ceramic studios in Korea, where pieces discarded for minor flaws accumulated at the back of workshops.
Nearly two tons of ceramic fragments were shipped and assembled into these mosaic vessels. They hold together without disguising what they are: broken, varied, once part of something else. For Shin, each shard is a diasporic metaphor, separated from its origin, yet celebrated for its imperfection and the connections it still holds.
The two vases rest on their sides, horizontal and earthbound, a stark contrast to the original form and purpose of the objects from which the fragments were sourced: ceramic cups, bowls, and pots meant to be shared across a table. Exhibited together with the shattered remnants, the installation suggests memory, promise, and the possibility of being made whole again.
Visitors are invited to respond to a simple question: Who do we carry with us? On torn pieces of mulberry paper, resembling shards printed in the blue-green tones of celadon, the public participates by writing the names of loved ones. Over the duration of the exhibition, the artist will collage these contributions onto a large scroll, accumulating like the collective fragments that make up the vessels.
This reflection continues in Shin’s Offering, on long-term view in Green-Wood’s Main Entrance meadow, where two elder trees have been memorialized in a regenerative earthwork. Across both works, Shin suggests that what is lost is not erased, but holds the possibility of renewal.
Celadon Landscape is curated by Harry J. Weil, Green-Wood’s Vice President of Education and Programming. Celadon shards were donated by the City of Icheon, South Korea, and participating kilns in the region as part of Jean Shin’s MTA Art and Design commission for the LIRR’s Broadway Station in Flushing, Queens.
The mosaic vessels were fabricated by the team at Miotto Mosaics Art Studios, Inc. Paper celadon shards were screen printed by Luther Davis, Jesse Katz, and the printshop team at Powerhouse Arts. Installation support from Rowan Renee. Volunteer assistance from Mary Pat Klein, Margi Trapani, and David Somlyo.
About the Artist
Jean Shin is known for her sprawling and often public sculptures, transforming accumulations of discarded objects into powerful monuments that interrogate our complex relationship between material consumption, collective identity, and community engagement. Often working cooperatively within a community, Shin amasses vast collections of everyday objects—Mountain Dew bottles, mobile phones, 35mm slides—while researching their history of use, circulation, and environmental impact. Distinguished by this labor-intensive and participatory process, Shin’s creations become catalysts for communities to confront social and ecological challenges.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in the U.S., Shin works in Brooklyn and Hudson Valley, New York. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in over 150 major museums and cultural institutions, including solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, where in 2020 she was the first Korean American woman artist featured in a solo exhibition. Shin has received numerous awards, including the Frederic Church Award for her contributions to American art and culture. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and Sculpture Magazine, among others.