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As the Crow Flies

Joanna Chia-yu Lin

Nominated by
Fotogalleriet
2023
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As the Crow Flies is an interdisciplinary project that explores memory, shifting identities and migration. Taking inspiration from the phrase "as the crow flies” which describes the shortest distance between two points, the project reflects on the emotional and temporal distances that shape our understanding of home. It is an ever-evolving work, continuously changing form depending on its context, expanding and contracting from large sculptural pieces to postcard-sized works.

I explore the fragmented nature of memory, where complexity of emotions coexist. I experiment with photography, painting, textiles, and sound to create a shifting, immersive space that reflects how moving in-between places reshapes personal histories. The work unfolds in layered, non-linear storytelling, evoking the way memories surface as flashes, vivid yet fleeting, personal yet universal.

As the Crow Flies features over 200 soft photographic sculptures, created through my self-developed image transfer technique that merges photography, painting, and industrial materials. These sculptural works contrast fragility and permanence, inviting a navigation between tactile and visual elements. As I begin incorporating sound and language into the project, a soundscape of spoken words in Norwegian threads through the installation, adding a layer of distance and translation that echoes the evolving nature of memory and identity.


By continuously testing new processes and deconstructing conventional material uses, I transform various materials and forms into vessels for memory. As the Crow Flies extends my exploration of materiality and interdisciplinary narratives, adapting to different spaces and formats as it continues to take on new forms.

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The Artist
Joanna Chia-yu Lin
Nominated in
2025
By
Fotogalleriet
Lives and Works in
Oslo
Joanna Chia-yu Lin explores memory and place through an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating photography, painting, textiles, and installations to trace connections between belonging, home, and the unspoken spaces where emotions and realities meet. Born in 1995 in Chiayi, Taiwan, and based in Oslo, Norway, Joanna holds an MFA in Medium and Materials-Based Art from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and a BFA in Fine Arts from National Taiwan Normal University. Her works have been shown in several venues in Norway, including Kunstplass, Tenthaus, the Photo Festival Oslo Negativ, Drammens Museum, and Northing Space. Upcoming exhibitions include Fotografiens Hus (Oslo), Yao’s Alternative Space, and Glitch (Taichung, Taiwan). She is a member of Tenthaus Collective, The Norwegian Association of Painters and The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists. Her works are in the collections of Västra Götalandsregionen, Sweden, and Art Bank Taiwan at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
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