Steps
Artist/Maker
Jean Shin
(American, born in South Korea, 1971)
Date2004
MediumLeather (shoes) on paper
DimensionsOverall: 22 1/2 × 29 3/4 in. (57.2 × 75.6 cm)
Frame: 26 × 33 1/4 × 1 5/8 in. (66 × 84.5 × 4.1 cm)
Frame: 26 × 33 1/4 × 1 5/8 in. (66 × 84.5 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Driek (OC 1965) and Michael (OC 1964) Zirinsky in honor of Frederieke Taylor
PortfolioSeries 6
Object number2015.28.2
Status
On viewShin turns castoff cell phones, umbrellas, and other mass-produced goods into highly aesthetic artworks, confronting viewers with the collective effects of consumerism and waste. Steps is a series of collages made from the linings and inner leather of worn shoes. These are the parts with the most intimate contact with the wearer’s feet. Shin disassembled discarded shoes and re-configured these parts into compositions reminiscent of footprints, architecture, or abstract forms.
Exhibition History
Jean Shin: Hide
- Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York (March 19, 2004 - April 17, 2004 )
Body Proxy: Clothing in Contemporary Art
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 1, 2015 - December 13, 2015 )
Centripetal/Centrifugal: Calibrating an Asian American Art
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 5, 2019 - May 26, 2019 )
Border Crossings: Contemporary Art from the Zirinsky Collection
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 10, 2025 - June 1, 2025 )
Collections
- Modern & Contemporary
- On View
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19th century
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