Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1991 Toronto, Canada

Biography

Artist Sin Wai Kin (formerly known as Victoria Sin) was born to a Chinese father and British mother in Toronto, Canada in 1991. Sin moved to London in 2009, earning a BA in Drawing from Camberwell College of Arts and an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art. Their practice is characterised by a multidisciplinary approach that spans performance, moving image, writing, and printmaking, using speculative fiction as a foundational element to challenge and dissect normative processes of desire, identification, and objectification.

Drawing heavily on their non-binary and mixed-race identity, Sin’s work critically explores the liminal spaces between established cultural categories. This exploration began during their early years, influenced by Toronto’s dynamic drag scene, which introduced them to the performative potential of identity. However, it was London's eclectic queer community and its drag cabarets where Sin found a a platform for deeper artistic exploration. During this transformative period, they created the drag persona Victoria Sin, which embodied exaggerated female stereotypes inspired by the glamour of the Golden Age of Hollywood. This character not only featured prominently in Sin's early works but also played a pivotal role in affirming their non-binary identity. Reflecting on the impact of drag, Sin stated, ‘Drag gave me the tools to separate what I wanted and what other people wanted from me […]. It made me aware of the complexity of gender and the absurdity of a society that tells you that you are one of two genders when you are born’ (Financial Times). About four years after the debut of Victoria Sin, a pivotal performance at WorldPride Malmö in 2021 marked a significant evolution in Sin’s artistic and personal identity. Performing as Victoria in a parody of a 1950s cooking show, Sin critiqued entrenched gender roles, signaling their readiness to explore beyond the binary constructs of identity, including facets of masculinity. This performance underscored Sin's ongoing journey of self-discovery and artistic evolution, which continues to influence their work profoundly.

Sin highlights science fiction and philosophy, particularly the Taoist writings of Zhuangzi, as significant influences. These texts enable Sin to explore and illustrate dynamic relationships and the acceptance of constant change. The presence of Sin's body in their work, initially not a conscious decision, evolved into a critical element for dissecting and challenging socialised ideals of Western femininity. In their performances, Sin is known for employing elaborate costumes and transformative personas to create immersive experiences that challenge and destabilise conventional discourses around gender, identity, and consciousness. This approach is vividly demonstrated in their innovative use of video in works such as Tell Me Everything You Saw, and What You Think it Means, which critiques and deconstructs traditional representations of gender and sexuality through performance art.

One of Sin's notable exhibitions, It's Always You at Blindspot Gallery (2022), showcased their multimedia works from 2016 to 2021, celebrating the multiplicity of identities in a world dominated by binary thinking. It began with the video installation Preface/Looking Without Touching, where Sin, adorned in red lingerie and a diamanté choker, challenged viewers to reflect on their perceptions and desires. The exhibition highlighted Sin's poststructural critique of representation, notably in the film A Dream of Wholeness in Parts which blends Cantonese opera archetypes, Taoist philosophy, Hong Kong cinema, Western painting, and contemporary drag culture to challenge traditional gender constructs. Another piece, It’s Always You featured Sin as four boy band members, each representing different facets of masculinity, in a parody of its commercialisation. This work invited the audience to consider their own identities as part of a diverse and ever-evolving collective. Their recent film, Dreaming the End (2023), explores fluid narratives and the evolution of human experiences through a dreamlike tapestry of enigmatic characters and shifting locales. Merging elements from thriller, noir, and fantasy genres, it challenges conventional narrative structures and questions the boundaries between authenticity and performance. This ambitious project encourages viewers to rethink rigid narrative patterns, fostering a discussion on the mutable nature of reality and fiction from a non-binary perspective.

Beyond their individual creations, Sin actively participates in broader cultural and academic discussions. They have initiated and contributed to projects such as Dream Babes, which investigates science fiction and speculative fiction as methods of queer resistance and imagining new futures, focusing on how identity and resistance can be expressed and understood through speculative narrative frameworks. Sin has exhibited at venues including London's Tate Modern (2017), Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA, 2017), and Serpentine Galleries (2018), and has participated in group shows such as Kiss My Genders, Hayward Gallery, London (2019) and Rising Up in the Infinite Sky, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2019). In 2021, their video A Dream of Wholeness in Parts was nominated for the Turner Prize, in the same year their work featured in the touring British Art Show 9. Sin Wai Kin’s work is not currently represented in UK public collections.

Related books

Kabir Jhala, ‘Sin Wai Kin's Films Challenge Gender Binaries and Fascist Italian Architecture’, The Art Newspaper online, 16 June 2023
Caroline Roux, ‘Artist Sin Wai Kin: ‘Drag Gave Me the Tools to Separate what I Wanted and What Other People Wanted’, Financial Times, 9 June 2023
Nuit Banai, ‘Nuit Banai on Sin Wai Kin’, Artforum International, Vol. 60, March 2022

Related organisations

Camberwell College of Arts (student)
Royal College of Art (student)

Selected exhibitions

Sin Wai Kin: It’s Always You, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY, USA (2024)
What Are You Looking At?, group exhibition, 65th BFI London Film Festival, London (2021)
British Art Show 9, group exhibition, Touring: Aberdeen, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Plymouth (2021)
Vortex, group exhibition, Corsica Studios, New Art City, London (2021)
She’s Hopeful, solo exhibition, Soft Opening, London (2020)
INFERNO, group exhibition, ICA Cinema 3, London (2020)
Rewriting the Future, group exhibition, Site Gallery, Sheffield (2019)
Kiss My Genders, group exhibition, Hayward Gallery, London (2019)
Rising Up in the Infinite Sky, group exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2019)
Narrative Reflections on Looking, solo exhibition, Sotheby’s S2, London (2018)
DRAG, group exhibition, Hayward Gallery, London (2018)
Park Nights, group exhibition, Serpentine Galleries, London (2018)
Swinging Out Over the Earth, group exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018)
Block Universe, group exhibition, Brunel Museum, London (2018)
We Share the Same Tears, group exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018)
Décalé, group exhibition, DIY Space for London, London (2018)
YCT Prize Exhibition, group exhibition, The Cello Factory, London (2017)
Glitch Feminism, group exhibition, ICA, London (2017)
Tenderflix 2017, group exhibition, Royal College of Art Gorvy Theatre, London (2017)
Non Linear: Magnets, group exhibition, CLOSE-UP, London (2017)
SHOW RCA 2017, group exhibition, Royal College of Art, London (2017)
SHOW RCA 2017, group exhibition, The Royal College of Art, London (2017)
Hotline, group exhibition, New River Studios, London (2017)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Sin Wai Kin]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Sin Wai Kin artist