
Created following a studio residency in Spain and research in Italy, Chin’s new body of work explores cycles of collapse and renewal through luminous, expansive paintings that bring global imagery into dialogue.
This Is No Fantasy 2025
THIS IS NO FANTASY is delighted to present From The Ruins, the landmark twentieth solo exhibition by Melbourne-based artist Kevin Chin.
Chin’s practice has long drawn together fragments from disparate places and histories. In From The Ruins, European references extend this trajectory: ancient ruins collide with futuristic structures, while desert landscapes and Tuscan light intermingle with traces of Rome. These works consider how distant events ripple across borders, shaping the interconnected realities of contemporary life.
In Chin’s shifting compositions, distinctions between earth and sky, past and future, collapse and repair, become increasingly unstable. Canvases span the Texas desert to the Colosseum, where moments of intimacy - such as a Japanese futon placed among ruins - suggest the possibility of sanctuary within disorder. Emerging from debris, architectural and natural forms are bathed in a warm, luminous glow, carrying us through cycles of regeneration.
Holding it all together is Chin’s enduring search for grounding, clarity, and resilience in uncertain times. From The Ruins affirms his commitment to painting as a space where dissonant worlds might converge, and where hope persists through renewal.
Time Arches 2025, oil on linen, 148 x 138 cm
Stone by Stone 2025, oil on linen, 94 x 138 cm
Bedrock 2025, oil on linen, 148 x 138 cm
Unwinding 2025, oil on linen, 148 x 138 cm
Many Levels 2025, oil on linen, 77 x 122 cm
Ancient History 2025, oil on linen, 94 x 138 cm