Stillness Between Us, Dianne Tanzer Gallery Melbourne 2015

"The sheer meticulousness of Kevin Chin's work might, at first, lead the viewer to consider his distinctive mode of realist painting in purely representational terms. His new five-panel work, Between Bridges, reads as if a literal panorama as it traces the perimeters of a placid lake and an expansive, beautifully manicured Japanese garden. Contemporary figures dotted here and there gaze plaintively off into distance.

But moments of disjuncture soon reveal themselves. Horizon lines are set askew, fragmentary vantages of the lake fail to meet, and the dappled reds and oranges of the Japanese autumn fade into the lustrous whites and pinks of the cherry blossoms of early spring. It's at once contiguous and gently disorientating. Chin merges minute details and softer, hazy tones, creating a contemplative, dreamy atmosphere.

Between Bridges and the three other paintings that accompany it were made during a year-long solo stint in Tokyo. This is a panorama not of place, but of a wider set of personal experiences, moods and moments alone – hushed in stillness, but rambling in scope."
- Dan Rule, The Age, 3 Apr 2015

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Between Bridges (Installation view)
Oil on linen 2015
Total dimensions 5 panels, 198 x 630 cm

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Between Bridges I
Oil on linen 2015
198 x 122 cm

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Between Bridges II
Oil on linen 2015
198 x 122 cm

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Between Bridges III
Oil on linen 2015
198 x 122 cm

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Between Bridges IV
Oil on linen 2015
198 x 122 cm

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Between Bridges V
Oil on linen 2015
198 x 122 cm