Nina Sun is currently in pursuit of her BA in Visual Critical Studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her expected graduation date is May 2026.

Artist’s Statement

My work is the physical manifestation of the act of manipulating a veil. A metaphoric veil, a physical veil. Where the boundary between presence and absence blurs.

Like being told a secret in a loud room.

A voyeuristic gaze through the condensation that’s collecting on the inside of a window.

Reading a love letter in a language you’re only beginning to learn.

Embracing in thick winter coats.

A bride’s face the moment before her veil is lifted.

A veil covers, conceals, obscures, hides, disguises, screens, separates. A series of works or a brushstroke or an image do the same in my work. 

A wedding veil. A religious veil. A mourning veil. For adornment, for modesty, for ritual. 

Historically, veils are made by women and worn by women. They are products of care, craft, and labour. They are expressions of femininity, both passive and active. My work is rooted in the feminine experience; the empowering and the defeating, the public and the intimate; our inner worlds and physical existences, the way we feel and the way we look. 

Veils are draped over objects as barriers, distinguishing the sacred from the mundane. In my work, I explore the sacred as emotion, as narrative, as a way of catharsis. It is wholly contained within the mundane yet jolts you out of its lulling rhythm.

 The veil’s often translucent quality—both material and metaphorical—acts as a lens through which I navigate depth, perception, and the instability of meaning both personal and universal, intimate and overt.

2024, Group Exhibitions

SAIC Artbash, SAIC Galleries, Chicago, IL

AND NOW, Agitator Gallery, Chicago, IL

Neither Here Nor There, Side Street Studio Arts, Elgin, IL