Wolfgang's Artist of the Week: Jinyoung Shin

Jinyoung Shin is a young woman from New York whose art I admire so strongly that I often sputter when asked about it. It is stylish, and not particularly digestible as something that you would see in comics or even character design, which isn't to say it isn't understandable or unapproachable, but rather is deeply artistic and, for me, inspiring. Ms. Shin's art is something I adore because it is so unique and solitary.

Obviously manga influenced and slightly gothic in tone, Jinyoung takes styles well beyond their normal borders and makes them completely her own: ethereal, bizarre, playful, extremely stylized and sort of frightening all at once. The utterly over-exaggerated, anorexic limbs, the surrealist and modern, geometric art of the various details and backgrounds are real hallmarks of her work. I really like the x-ray-like layering she does with clothes, limbs and positioning in many of the pictures. And while her images are busy — almost frenetic — they are never messy or cluttered, but precise and focused.
One thing I really come away with from this art (which may not have ever been intended by the artist) is a feeling of how important it is to experiment and push limits. Manga bishounen? Pfff. Manga bishounen on surrealist benders, with commentary intact on the absurdities of the genre, and it looks like art!