NC Qin
b. Nancy Qin Yu
Welcome to my glass art portfolio - thank you for visiting :)
A little bit about me
I grew up in Sydney with a typical Asian family (you know what I'm talking about; where A is for average, and B is for bad - thank you Kevjumba for this lasting quote), my parents like many others wanted me to be one of the trio of career prestige: a lawyer, doctor or accountant. And why not? My maths was good. If I had been thinking entirely objectively at the time I would have realized they would have afforded me a modest and stable wealth.
But my heart was seized by passion, and I could not hear of it. I, I decided, was going to rise to the ranks of the Old Masters whom I idolized. And for all my imagination, I could not see myself as anything else other than an artist. So strong was the pull to become one.
What did I know, I was just a highschooler still struggling with a sea of hormones and emotions. But it wasn't me who decided. The voice came from somewhere deep within, I just listened. The voice lead me somewhere beautiful, and with beauty came toil, but with toil came a deeper resonance to something timeless.
“Nothing is hopeless, we must hope for everything”
“Four years ago I met a rising artist, NC Qin, she was quiet, yet competitive. It’s fascinating to watch her grow and discover more depth in this young artist. She is always aiming higher every time, tackling challenges that come her way in order to achieve what she envisions in her artwork. Nancy has been showing with the Love Letter since 2015. Curating her is always inspiring; she has the courage to try something new that influences the people around her, instigating a collective growth. When a work doesn’t turn out as planned, she rebounds quickly, taking in the failure and tries again. Nancy understands that success comes with persistence, which is why I admire Nancy both as an artist and a person.”
I was fortunate enough to have a duo art education into both strategies of East and West. After my HSC I took a gap year to China, where I studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). In CAFA I enrolled as a student of the traditional arts, it imbued in me a sense of discipline. But it was glass I was in search of, so I journeyed back to Australia and finished my art education in Sydney College of the Arts (SCA). I am grateful to have been privileged to experience both, as they have allowed me to think both freely but with discipline in my life and art.
current & upcoming
17 February - 16 June 2024 Shattering the Glass Ceiling – Women Artists in the National Art Glass Collection, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
27 May - 16 August 2024 History Reimagined: Shen Jiawei and NC Qin, Institute for Australian and Chinese Art and Culture, Western Sydney University, Parramatta NSW Australia
awards
winner
2021 WINNER of Vicki Torr Emerging Artist Prize, Australia
2020 WINNER of National Emerging Art Glass Prize, Australia
Finalist
2023 Finalist of Rookwood Cemetery Sculpture Award, Australia
2023 Finalist of EMERGING Gosford, Australia
2022 Finalist of National Capital Art Prize, Australia
2022 Finalist of Sustainable Waste 2 Art Prize, Australia
2022 Finalist of North Sydney Art Prize, Australia
2019 Finalist of IDENTITY - Art & Design Prize, Handmade in Britain UK
2019 Finalist of ARTBANK ROADSHOW, Lismore NSW Australia
2018 Finalist of National Emerging Art Glass Prize, Australia
2017 Finalist of Rookwood Cemetery Sculpture Award, Australia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Kings, Dukes, Generals, Ministers, Art Atrium, 11 - 25 June, Botany NSW Australia
2021 Glass Armours (Commissioned Solo Exhibition), Lunar North Confluence, Gallery Lane Cove, 3 - 27 Feb., Lane Cove NSW Australia
TWO MAN EXHIBITIONS
2024 History Reimagined: Shen Jiawei and NC Qin, Institute for Australian and Chinese Art and Culture, 27 May - 16 August, Western Sydney University, Parramatta NSW Australia
2024 FROM FIRE: NC QIN & ALI TAHAYORI, Casula Powerhouse, 9 Dec. – 3 March, Casula NSW Australia
GROUP Exhibitions
2024 Shattering the Glass Ceiling – Women Artists in the National Art Glass Collection, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, 17 Feb. - 16 June, Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
2024 Home and Away (curated by Luise Guest & Jennifer Yang), 16Albermarle Project Space, 22 Nov. – 16 Dec., Newtown NSW Australia
2023 HIDDEN SCULPTURE WALK (curated by Kath Fries), Rookwood Cemetery, 21 Oct. - 19 Nov., Rookwood NSW Australia
2023 Nationalism in the Wake of COVID, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, 8 July - 20 August, Cowra NSW Australia
2023 TABOO, Bankstown Arts Centre, 13 May-24 June, Bankstown NSW Australia
2023 Okkoota ಒಕ್ಕೂಟ (curated by Vishal Kumaraswamy), Arts House Melbourne, 12 - 23 April, North Melbourne VIC Australia
2023 Rituals of Resistance, Thirning Villa, 9 - 25 March, Ashfield NSW Australia
2023 EMERGING 2023, Gosford Regional Gallery, 3 Feb. - 26 March, Central Coast NSW Australia
2023 Inner Edge Drifting, Art Space on the Concourse, 18 Jan. - 12 Feb., Chatswood NSW Australia
2022 New Contemporaries, SCA Gallery, University of Sydney, 1 - 10 Dec., Sydney NSW Australia
2022 Glass Chrysalis, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, 21 Oct. - 22 Jan., Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
2022 Personal Mythologies (curated by Sophia Cai), La Trobe Institute of Art, 14 July - 16 Oct., Bendigo VIC Australia
2022 National Capital Art Prize Exhibition, 22 Sept. – 12 Oct., Canberra ACT Australia
2022 Sustainable Waste 2 Art Prize (SWAP) Exhibition, See Street Gallery, 2 - 15 Sept., Meadowbank NSW Australia
2022 Nationalism in the Wake of COVID, Macquarie University Art Gallery, 16 June – 24 August, Macquarie Park NSW Australia
2022 The North Sydney Art Prize Biennial, The Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, 14 - 29 May, Waverton NSW Australia
2022 ROOTS: Rituals and Reclamations, Pari Ari, 10 April –22 May, Parramatta NSW Australia
2022 Cultural Cartography: Creating Art at the Intersection of Cultures (curated by Guan Wei), Bankstown Art Centre, 13 Jan. - 20 Feb., Bankstown NSW Australia
2022 Cultural Cartography: Creating Art at the Intersection of Cultures (curated by Guan Wei), Institute for Australian and Chinese Art and Culture, 24 Feb. - 12 May, Western Sydney University, Parramatta NSW Australia
2021 Home is more than a place (curated by Sophia Cai), Hamilton Gallery and NETS Victoria Digital Exhibition, Australia
2020 National Emerging Art Glass Prize Exhibition, National Glass Art Gallery, 2 April - 20 Sept., Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
2020 BREAK (with Folk Magazine), 107 Projects, 28 March, Redfern NSW Australia
2019 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium, 30 Nov. - 14 Dec., Botany NSW Australia
2019 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair (with Art Atrium), Carriageworks, 12 - 15 Sept., Redfern NSW Australia
2019 IDENTITY - Art & Design (Handmade in Britain), Ashmolean Museum of Art & Architecture, 14 -26 June, Oxford UK
2019 IDENTITY - Art & Design (Handmade in Britain), Handmade Oxford (Waterperry Gardens), 27 June, Oxford UK
2019 Peach Blossom Spring (curated by Naomi Segal), FirstDraft Gallery, 3 - 25 April, Woolloomooloo NSW Australia
2019 The Selfie (curated by James Varley-Ross), Ten Forty Seven Gallery, 11 - 26 May, Mascot NSW Australia
2019 Vitreous, Herring Island Summer Arts Festival, Herring Island Gallery, 9 Feb. - 17 March, Melbourne VIC Australia
2018 Summer Sojourn, Live in Art Gallery (in collab with Art Atrium Gallery), 5 - 23 Dec., Surry Hills NSW Australia
2018 National Emerging Art Glass Prize Exhibition, National Glass Art Gallery, 5 May - 29 July, Wagga Wagga NSW Australia
2018 National Emerging Art Glass Prize Exhibition, Griffith Regional Art Gallery, 10 August - 23 Sept., Griffith NSW Australia
2017 HIDDEN SCULPTURE WALK, Rookwood Cemetery, 26 August - 24 Sept., Rookwood NSW Australia
2017 Love Letter : Be With You, 541 Art Space, 5 - 17 May, Sydney NSW Australia
2017 ART CRAWL, Fisher Library (University of Sydney), 3 - 7 March Sydney NSW Australia
2017 Ausglass Conference Exhibition, ANU Gallery, 18 - 28 Jan., Canberra ACT Australia
2016 Makers Matter, Gaffa Gallery, 24 Nov. - 5 Dec., Sydney NSW Australia
2016 Love Letter : I believe in Second Chances , 541 Art Space, 2 - 25 Sept., Sydney NSW Australia
2015 Love Letter, Articulate Space, 9 - 24 May, Leichhardt NSW Australia
2015 Undergraduate Degree Show, Sydney College of the Art, 7 - 17 Feb., Rozelle NSW Australia
2010 ArtExpress, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Art Centre, Hazelhurst NSW Australia
curatorial projects
2023 TABOO, Bankstown Art Centre, 13 May-24 June, Bankstown NSW Australia
presenter/speaker
Dress and Body Association Conference, ‘Creativity, Care and Communities: Making Visible Connections’, 2 November 2024, Online
GLASS MADISON CONFERENCE, 6 October 2023, Madison WI USA
CAM Flashtalks, 18 April 2023, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale IL USA
formal Education
College of Arts and Media, Southern Illinois University, Masters of Fine Arts (GLASS), 2023 - present
Carbondale, IL USA
Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney, Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours, 2021 - 2022
Sydney, NSW Australia
Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney, Bachelor of Visual Arts, 2013 - 2015
Sydney, NSW Australia
Central Academy of Fine Art, Traditional Arts, 2012
Beijing, Hebei China
Mentorships
The Women’s Club Professional Practice Mentorship with Isabel Deeble, 2023
NAVA Mentorship with Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, 2021
Glass Internship/Assistant with Kate Baker, Studio 4, 2016 - present
Fellowships & Grants
2024 The Windgate Research Grant, School of Art and Design, Southern Illinois University, IL USA
2024 The Chey Fellowship, Institute of Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture, Western Sydney University, NSW Australia
Collections
“Head Case I” (3/5), “Head Case II” (2/5), “Headcase III” (2/5) National Art Glass Collection, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery NSW Australia
“Head Case I” (1/5) Private collection of Mike & Sandi Faulkner
“Head Case III” (2/5) Private collection in Oxford, UK
Potential Private collection in Melbourne
notable Commissions
Network Infinity Temporary Public Artwork commissioned by Willoughby City Council for Inner Edge Drifting 2023
Birdsong Installation commissioned by Diversity Arts Australia for ‘I AM NOT A VIRUS’ PROJECT 2021
Glass Armours Exhibition commissioned by Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios for the Lunar North Confluence 2021
SANA INCENSE product line commissioned by award winning Australian designer Tom Fereday 2021
Media
MICRO DOCS Episode with Eastern Standard Times (EST) Media : Weapons Made of Glass: Meet Chinese-Australian Sculptor NC Qin
ArtsHub review of Nationalism in the Wake of COVID exhibition by Gina Fairley : Rethinking nationalism in the wake of COVID
Level: Asian Podcast Episode 18: NC QIN - Earning a living as an Asian Australian artist & Mastering Glass Art
Sydney Morning Herald : Vice attitude with NYT rigour: The Eastern Standard Times targets diaspora audience
ROOTS Pari Exhibition Reivew (MeMo Review) : ROOTS by June Miskell
Interview with Objetos con Vidrio (Art Glass Publication): Entrevista a la joven escultora en vidrio NC QIN
Feature with 詩人映霞 on the exhibition Glass Armours: 华裔姑娘荣获澳洲国家年度新兴玻璃艺术奖
Feature with udee.co (online publisher) on The Persistence Series : NC QIN BRINGS US 'PERSISTENCE'
Talks & Symposiums
Dress Body Association 2024, ‘Creativity, Care, and Communities: Making Visible Connections’
Glass Madison 2023, GEEX Educational Gathering Artist Talks
CAM Flash Talks 2024, Guyon Auditorium, Southern Illinois University
research/academic Papers
Bearing the Weight of Heritage - A Practice Based Art Enquiry into Intersection Cultures through Value Dislocation by Nancy Qin Yu
publications & catalogues
2022, Nationalism in the Wake of COVID, Macquarie University, ISBN 978-1-74138-487-1
2020, National Emerging Art Glass Prize 2020, Michael Scarrone, ISBN 978-1-875247-08-0
2019, NC QIN : On the Precipice, Nancy Yu
2019, Peach Blossom Spring, Naomi Segal
2018, National Emerging Art Glass Prize 2018, Michael Scarrone, ISBN 978-1-875247-07-3
2017, HIDDEN Rookwood Cemetery Sculpture Walk 2017, Rookwood General Cemeteries Reserve Trust
2015, Sydney College of the Arts 2015 Graduation Catalogue, Liam Garstang, ISBN 978-1-921558-03-0