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Candice Lin in "Realms of the Real"
Descriptive audio version available here.
From her Los Angeles studio to museums and galleries worldwide, artist Candice Lin creates works of art that steam and bubble, emit pungent odors, and invite touch and embodied exploration. Through multi-sensory sculptural installations, the artist crafts fantastical fictions that are grounded in rigorous research of materials involved in complex histories of trade, labor, exploitation, and desire. The artist’s investigations allow her to mine unexplored paths and create works using a range of unconventional creatures and materials, including porcelain, indigo, and cochineal, as well as flesh-eating beetles, silkworms, and urine. This documentary short follows the artist down the myriad rabbit holes of her practice, revealing how she incorporates materials with deep historical resonances to complicate official narratives. “What are the things that can’t be verified, but probably happened, and are important stories to tell?” asks Candice Lin. “I use the speculative aspect of my work to allow those things to come to the surface.”
This film was directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal, produced by Nan Sandle, edited by Colin Nusbaum, and photographed by James Fideler.
Credits
Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal. Executive Producer: Tina Kukielski. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Producer: Nan Sandle. Editor: Colin Nusbaum. Director of Photography: James Fideler. Associate Producer: Andrea Chung. Associate Curator: Jurrell Lewis. Design & Animation: Momentist, Inc. Composer: Andrew Orkin.
Additional Cinematography: Josh Flavell, Jason Lewis, Gatherer Media. Assistant Camera: Cecelia Hubbard & Jake O’Connor. Gaffer & Electric: Pablo Lopez. Key Grip: Rishab Chandra. Location Sound: Sara Sandoval. Production Assistant: Evan Hamilton. Fixer: Tim Stone.
Additional Art21 Staff: Makda Amdetsyon, Lauren Barnett, Hannah DeGarmo, Lolita Fierro, Ian Forster, Grace LeCates, Emma Nordin, Jessica Svenson, Noor Tamari, Emilia Copeland Titus, Nora Wimmer. Interns: Candice Cirilo, Emma Kanne, Billie Lam, Asante Marie Owusu-Brafi, Aarya Silwal, Maria Syville.
Post-Production Supervisors: Amelia Garner & Jennifer Wanamaker. Video Post-Production Service: Cut + Measure. Video Post-Production Producer: Alex Laviola. Colorist: Chris Ramey. Online & Conform: David Gauff. Post-Production Coordinator: Mary Grace Duffy. Audio Post-Production Service: Post Romantic. Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Editor: Gisela Fullà-Silvestre. Assistant Sound Editor: Dan Weisselberg. Audio Description & Captions: Sasha Hecht & Andre Kelman. Quality Control: Adam Stout. Narration: Louise Eliasof. Additional Music: Trey Toy. Additional Video Editor: Regina Spurlock. Visual Effects: Daniel de Graaf & Isaiah King. Visual Effects Artists: Logan Cuddemi & Mike Houston. Assistant Editors: Isabella Morelli Avilán, Stephanie Cen, Sarah Yi Fineman, Michelle Hanks.
Artwork Courtesy: Candice Lin & François Ghebaly Gallery.
Legal Counsel: Donaldson Callif Perez.
Archival Material: Canal Projects, Daniella Baptista, Ry Francis, Ian Byers Gamber, Robert Heishman, The Here and There Collective, Jameel Arts Centre, The Logan Center at the University of Chicago, Awa Mally, NOAA, Walker Art Center, Pierre Ware.
Special Thanks: The Art21 Board of Trustees, Sophie Friedman-Pappas, Roger Jones, gene aguilar magaña, Charles McNulty, Yotam Menda-Levy, Dane Nakama, Roksana Pirouzmand, Gan Uyeda, Valeria Tizol Vivas.
Filming Locations Provided By: Jameel Arts Centre & Monash University.
Series Created By: Susan Dowling & Susan Sollins.
Original Production Funding Provided By: The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Agnes Gund, Melony and Adam Lewis, National Endowment for the Arts, Teiger Foundation, Sarah Arison, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Dealer Tire, Arts, Equity, & Education Fund™, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Elyse and Lawrence B. Benenson, Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, Tim and Lauren Schrager Family Foundation.
This program is a production of Art21, Inc. which is solely responsible for its content.
© 2026 Art21, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian
Through the Art21 Translation Project, multilingual audiences from around the globe can contribute translations, making Art21 films more accessible worldwide.
Interested in showing this film in an exhibition or public screening? To license this video please visit Licensing & Reproduction.
Candice Lin was born in 1979 in Concord, Massachusetts, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. The artist received her BA from Brown University in 2001 and her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2004. In her research-based practice, Lin works with a wide variety of materials driven by a deep interest in their histories and offers alternative understandings of society and ourselves. Equally engaging historical fact and speculation, the artist gives voice to overlooked perspectives, creating visceral and sensorial experiences through sculptures, videos, texts, paintings, and installations.
“What are the things that can’t be verified, but probably happened, and are important stories to tell? I use the speculative aspect of my work to allow those things to come to the surface.”
Candice Lin
