Lost at sea- and in translation: Artist Eleen Lin's "Dick, Moby" comes to Viterbo Univ

On Nov. 6, the internationally recognized artist Eleen Lin gave a presentation on her work in the Fine Arts Center of Viterbo University. The lecture was free and open to the public, and many studio art students and professors attended. Selected pieces from Lin’s current project, “Dick, Moby,” will remain on display in the Viterbo University Gallery on the third floor of the Fine Arts Center until Dec. 6.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Thailand, Lin earned her bachelor’s degree at the Slade School of Fine Art in the United Kingdom and an MFA in painting and printmaking from the Yale University School of Art. She currently lives and works in New York. Lin’s international upbringing and artistic training informed her work in a multitude of ways, and mistranslations have been a consistent pattern in her life and work. Even her English name, Eleen, was the result of a translation error, as her parents had intended to call her Eileen but spelled it wrong on the paperwork.

“Dick, Moby” is also informed by the theme of mistranslation. Lin was required to read Herman Melville’s famous novel “Moby Dick” while she was still in school, but she did not become particularly interested in it until she took up the book again years later. She found that the Mandarin translation of the novel had many errors, and she began a series of paintings and prints that reflected this clash of meanings and cultures.

Working primarily with acrylic and oil on large canvases, Lin has rendered numerous vibrant and detailed works that have been positively received by the art enthusiasts of the Viterbo community.