THE CRYSTAL BALL IN YOUR HANDS

Chinatown Soup is pleased to present The crystal ball in your hands, an exhibition of  interactive illustrations and performance (imaginative fortune-telling) by Yichin Chen from September 15-27, 2020. Please join us for virtual oracle card readings by the artist TBA via Instagram and/or by appointment. 

The crystal ball in your hands can be understood as a visual essay that engages universal eagerness for a better future. Its interactive mechanism includes several quizzes that reveal ‘ultimate answers’ for ‘happiness’ prompted by symbolic illustrations. From coping with health to awakening the third eye, questions are channeled that speak to an inner monologue of the contemporary zeitgeist. This curation will provide answers to questions such as:

Is there a reason for the 21st century?

Would sleeping more than 15 hours help?

Should I bother voting?

Will the subway stay this clean forever?

Are the aliens already here?

Who else feels scared of returning to ‘normal’?

What meditation app is right for me?

When can I date IRL again?

Where is my mind?

How does astral projection work? 

Take a deep breath and join Yichin for a guided quest of call and response. Follow your intuition: choose an illustration that speaks to your slightly over-anxious soul. Breathe out and prepare to receive channeled wisdom from the artist as guru (a mirror to the moon). This activation is designed to deliver reassurance of your own clairvoyance at a moment when we are wise to master radical self-reliance. Let’s trust and hold the crystal ball in our hands.

Yichin Chen is an award-winning Taiwanese illustrator and graphic designer based in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Pratt Institute in 2017 and will receive her MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts in 2021. Yichin is mostly living in her cave filled with useless cute animal plushies. She makes illustrations inspired by her passion for fortune-telling, astrology, dollhouses, and good memes.