People

Helen Lin

Helen Lin headshot

About

I was born and raised in New York City and am currently majoring in Art and Archaeology Program 2: Studio Arts. I am interested in combining drawing, painting, book-binding, film, animation, photography, and/or sculpture to create multi-media narratives that observe how people connect to one another. Through my work, I tend to explore distinctions between real and unreal based on sentimentality. I am fascinated by dysfunctional relationships, guilt, and human curiosity for the natural world. I am a heavy dreamer. I dream every time I nap or go to bed. Sometimes, you can catch me running around in a bee costume handing out compliments or self-published zines. At the age of 19, I fell in love with a PVC pipe and my life has changed ever since.

Growing up, I never had much exposure to visual arts. After immigrating to the United States from China, my parents understood little English and were busy working long hours trying to make ends meet. Signing up for art classes or buying art supplies never crossed our minds. It wasn't until the summer right before my junior year that I had my first formal introduction to the fine arts at a free summer arts program. I quickly fell in love with what I was learning, and even though I felt pressured to pursue a financially secure career after returning to high school, I kept coming back to visual arts and realized I didn't want to spend the rest of my life on something else. However, there weren't a lot of people around me that shared this same passion, which felt a bit alienating. Even during my freshman year at Princeton, I had difficulties finding a visual arts community on campus. That's why I'm so excited to be a be part of a program that helps connect student artists with each other. If anyone has any questions about the program, curious about what current VIS majors are working on in their studios, or is just looking for someone to talk about art with, I'd love to meet up and chat!

Class of '18

Program in Visual Arts

Residential College

Whitman