Lyric Shen
Lyric Shen (born 1993) is an American visual artist. Her interdisciplinary practice is focused on sculpture and tattooing,[1] and also includes working in ceramics, installation art, movement-based performance, works on paper, and metal fabrication. Shen’s work engages themes of memory, labor, sexuality, material culture, and collective production; and she is a sex workers' rights activist. Shen is based in Los Angeles, California.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Lyric Shen was born in 1993 in Goleta, California,[1][2] where she was also raised.[3]
Shen studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art (class of 2022),[4][5] where she focused on ceramics and material-based practices.
Career
[edit]Shen works across multiple mediums including ceramic, paper, metal, movement, and tattoo-based imagery.[1][6][7] Her ceramic works often incorporate soda-fired stoneware techniques and emphasize surface treatment and sculptural form. In addition to ceramics, Shen produces metal-based sculptural works that combine industrial materials with organic and synthetic elements. According to Cultured magazine, Shen’s work has been noted for its material experimentation and engagement with contemporary ceramic discourse.[3]
Shen was featured in art exhibitions such as Jupiter Finger (2021), hosted by Real Pain Los Angeles, and Wall Sits (2019) by the art collective Kunstverein München.[2][5] The artist uses the mediums of movement, ceramic, paper, metal, and tattoo art.[7][2][5]
Shen produced a collage and painting series, a four-page spread in collaboration with volume two of the All Sex Workers Go to Heaven collective zine. Shen's ceramic piece, crafted using soda-fired stoneware, S. Flower Tray, was displayed at an art exhibition at Kunstverein München in 2019.[2] The artist's metalwork, Jewel Stand, was exhibited at Jupiter Finger.[5] The base of Jewel Stand is crafted from steel, and the central tabletop section is created from resin, clay, condoms, and plant matter.[5]
Exhibitions
[edit]Solo exhibitions
[edit]Group exhibitions
[edit]- Wall Sits (2019), group exhibition, Kunstverein München, Munich, Germany[2]
- Jupiter Finger (2021), group exhibition, Real Pain Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California[5]
- Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art (2025), group exhibition, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut[1][11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Cocar, Leo (July 30, 2025). "Membrane As Ledger. Lyric Shen |". Flash Art. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kunstverein München. (2019). Wall Sits [Exhibition catalog] (PDF) (in German). München, Germany: landeshauptstadt münchen kulturreferat.
- 1 2 Canoğulları, Esra (2023). "Surface Tensions: Lyric Shen's Hybrid Practice". Cult Classic Magazine (interview). Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Lyric Shen". Cranbrook Academy of Art. May 23, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cranbrook Ceramics Student Featured in Real Pain Los Angeles". Cranbrook Academy of Art. July 16, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ↑ Langas, Amelia. "On Lyric Shen's "There is an Occlusion"". Basta! magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "Cultured Editors Like: August Has Us Thinking About Green Expanses and Bugged Out Ceramics". Cultured (magazine). August 5, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ↑ "Lyric Shen. Promise's Room. - Exhibition at Silke Lindner in New York". ArtRabbit.
- ↑ Greenberg, Cement (February 25, 2023). "Cement Greenberg #2: Stories of Bullets and Gentleness". Cultbytes. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Lyric Shen Reflects on the Power of Material Memory in 'There is an occlusion'". Hypebeast. March 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art". Hyperallergic. September 5, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2026.