Ema Shin

Born Japan | lives Melbourne

Ema Shin is a Japanese born artist with Korean heritage who lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne. Her interdisciplinary practice interrogates notions of femininity, sexuality, identity, and womanhood. Working predominantly in soft sculpture and tapestry, Shin turns a feminist lens to the erasure of women from history within her family, heritage and culture.

Absent women are represented in Shin's practice through soft sculpture facsimiles of human organs made from soft cloth or woven as tapestry and embellished with beading, embroidery and needlework. These intricate sculptures draw on the tactile tradition of women’s craft to reclaim agency within a cultural narrative that is historically gendered. Her works act as vessels, not only as an expression of personal and collective histories, but as a means of symbolic reclamation against a backdrop of marginalisation. Each thread, bead, and stitch stands as both a silent protest and a powerful tribute to absent and unseen women.

Shin obtained a residency at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in 2012 and has continued to work in textiles and the tapestry medium since that time. Her accolades include being Highly Commended in the 2013 Irene Davies Emerging Artist Award for Small Tapestries, winning the Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries in 2017 and in the same year being selected for the 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial (touring), curated by Glenn Barkley. 2017 saw her selected for the Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale in China and in 2023 she was Highly Commended in the 10th International Artist’s Book Triennial in Lithuania which travelled to seven venues in Europe and the USA. The same year she was also shortlisted for the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award.

Shin has exhibited in curated exhibitions in Lithuania, USA, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Germany, England, Kenya, Mexico, Bulgaria and in curated projects, solo shows and art prizes throughout Australia.

Ema Shin has been commissioned to create a major work for the 25th Biennale of Sydney in 2026.

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AVAILABLE WORKS

Please contact the Gallery for available work by Ema Shin on 03 9008 4592

CV

EMA SHIN

born Niigata, Japan, arrived in Australia 2010

 QUALIFICATIONS

2005          Master of Fine Art Degree, Aichi University of the Arts, Aichi, Japan

2003          Graduate Degree in Printmaking, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan

 SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024         
Hearts of Absent Women, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2023         
Hearts of Absent Women, Ararat Gallery Textile Art Museum, Australia, Victoria
Hearts of Absent Women, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, New South Wales
Hearts of Absent Women, Australian Design Centre, Sydney

2022        
Hearts of Absent Women, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne

2017        
Foyer Gallery, School of Art, Australian National University, Canberra

2013        
Frisian Graphic Arts Museum, Joure, Netherlands

2012        
Gallery ACS, Nagoya, Japan , Japan information & Cultural Centre, Consulate-General of Japan, Melbourne

2010        
Gallery ACS, Nagoya, Japan

2006        
Gallery Kaede, Niigata, Japan

2005        
Alternative Space Crack, Seoul, Korea

Meihodo Blanc, Nagoya, Japan

2004        
Gallery APA F2, Nagoya, Japan

 CURATED EXHIBITIONS

2026        
25th Biennale of Sydney: REMEMORY, Chau Chuk Wing Museum, University of Sydney
Interwoven: Fibre Art and Fashion, National Wool Museum, Geelong

2024        
Porter St Launch, Gallerysmith, Prahran

2023         
To Be: 10th International Artist’s Book Triennial, Vilnius, Lithuania (touring) Leipzig & Koln, Germany, Venice, Italy, Granada, Spain, Oslo, Norway and venues around USA
My Heart, Platform Arts Geelong, Victoria
Within My Skin, Arts Project Australia Gallery, Melbourne
A Soft Touch, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney
Women in Stitches, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, New South Wales
Hand Over Hand: Textiles Today, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, USA
Present Tending, Australian National Capital Artists Studio + Gallery, Canberra
She of Mind and Body, Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre, Dandenong, Victoria
XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2022        
Even more beautiful IRL, Incinerator Galley, Melbourne

2021         
Fresh Material: New Australian Textile Art, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Art Textile Biennial 2020 (touring), East Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria; Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland; Barometer Gallery, New South Wales

2019        
Place Makers, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
The Curiosities, Mailbox Art Space, Melbourne
Take Time, Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre, Canberra

2018        
Chaozhou
International Embroidery Art Biennale, Chaozhou, China
INTERIORITIES, Curated by Brooke Van Der Linden, The Artists Guild, Melbourne
Conspicuous Presence, Curated by Women’s Art Register, Trocadero Art Space, Melbourne

2017        
Open House, 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial (touring), Curated by Glenn Barkley, Tamworth Regional Gallery, NSW ; Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW; Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, NSW; Artisan - Queensland’s Centre for Craft and Design, Queensland; Broken Hill Regional Gallery, NSW; Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, South Australia; Jam Factory at Seppeltsfield, South Australia; Swan Hill Regional Gallery, Victoria; Town Hall Gallery, Victoria; Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, NSW; Australian Design Centre, NSW
Selvedge, Virgin Melbourne Fashion Festival, Space at Collins, Melbourne
Body and Cloth: Performing Textiles, Asia TOPA, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2015        
Error {Mistake}: 7th International Artist’s Book Triennial, Vilnius, Lithuania

2014        
Cutting Edge, Eastbank Foyer, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
Tabi Wo Yomu – Artist Book, Akiba Tamabi 21, Tokyo, Japan
Organic Intimacy, Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne; Ararat Regional Art Gallery Town Hall, Ararat
Fertile Ground, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2013        
Beyond Words – Artists and Translation, Amelie Gallery, Beijing, China; Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
Soshun no Kosai, Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo, Japan
A Collection of New Works, Qdos Arts, Lorne, Victoria

2012         
Love: 6th International Artist’s Book Triennial, Venice, Italy, Vilnius, Lithuania and Leipzig, Germany

2011        
The Butterfly Effect, Toyota Community Spirit Gallery, Melbourne

2009        
3 Persons Exhibition, Gallery APA F2, Nagoya, Japan

2008        
Japan Print Show, Northern Print Studio Gallery, Newcastle, England

2005        
Grabando, Museo de los Pintores Oaxacaquenos, Mexico Independent-Image and Form 2005, Aichi Museum Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
13th International Print Biennial Varna, Grafic Art Gallery, Varna, Bulgaria

 AWARD EXHIBITIONS

2024        
Kate Derum Small Tapestry Award, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2023         
10th International Artist’s Book Triennial Highly commended
Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2023, Wangaratta Art Gallery, Victoria

2022        
Victorian Craft Awards 2022, Craft Victoria, Melbourne

2020        
McClelland National Small Sculpture Awards, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Victoria
Wyndham Art Prize 2020, Wyndham Art Gallery, Werribee, Victoria

2019        
Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2019, Wangaratta Art Gallery, Victoria

2017        
Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2017, Wangaratta Art Gallery, Victoria
Victorian Craft Award 2017, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne First Prize

2015        
Irene Davies Emerging Artist Award for Small Tapestries, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2013        
Irene Davies Emerging Artist Award for Small Tapestries, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne Highly Commended

2012         
Linden Postcard show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne

2007         
13th Sumio Kawakami Woodcut Grand Prix Competition, Museum Sumio Kawakami, Japan

 RESIDENCIES & GRANTS

2026         
Grant: NCAR Foundation, Japan, to support Shin’s presentation at Biennale of Sydney

2025         
Residency – 18 months: Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2024         
Grant: Tapestry Foundation Australia, Melbourne

2017         
Artist in Residence: Australian National University, Canberra School of Art, Canberra

2012         
Artist in Residence: Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Australia

2010         
Grant: The Researcher Overseas, Pola Art Foundation Japan, Melbourne
Artist in Residence: Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne

2007         
Artist in Residence: Jana Leo Kesho, PIAJI, RaMoMa Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya

2006         
Mar a Tres Riveras, On Three Sides of an Ocean, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain

2005         
Grabando, Print Juan Alcazar Studio, Rufino Tamayo Print Studio, Oaxaca, Mexico
Quitate los Zapatos, Kutsu O Nuide, Take off Your Shoes" Nagoya Art University, Printmaking Studios, Nagoya, Japan

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barandy, Kat, ‘ema shin explores memory and care with monumental embroidered heart’, designboom online magazine, 13 March, 2026, New York https://www.designboom.com/art/ema-shin-embroiders-intricate-detailing-into-monumental-heart-for-biennial-of-sydney/
Jefferson, Dee, ‘Sydney Biennale 2026: politics is everywhere – but with nuance, beauty and heart’, The Guardian, 13 March, 2026

Morris, Linda, ‘Clapped out car and giant boab do hard yards for the Biennale’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March, 2026

Carlsson, Anna, ‘Studio Ema Shin’, Art Guide Australia, March-April 2026, pp.60-65

Kubler, Alison, ‘Soft Monument; Ema Shin’s Heart… at the Biennale of Sydney’, Vault: Australasian Art and Culture, issue
53, February-April, pp. 74-78

Barry, Ramona and Jobson, Rebecca, ‘Ema Shin’, TEXTILES X ART, Thames and Hudson, 2025, pp. 252-257

Daly, Anna (ed), ‘Queen of Heart, Ema Shin and Georgia Milford’, Keeping Thing Together: 50 Years of the Women’s Art Register, Melbourne University Press, pp. 203-209

Cai, Sophia, ‘Filling the hearts of absent women’, Hearts of Absent Women, Ema Shin, exhibition catalogue, Melbourne, February 2022

Casamento, Daniella, ‘A New National Small Sculpture Award Draws Entries from Emerging to Established Artists’, Agenda
Matters, September 2020
https://agendamatters.wordpress.com/2020/09/22/a-new-national-small-sculpture-award-draws-entries-from-emerging-to-established-artists/

Cormack, Bridget, Shin, Ema, ‘How to Embroider an Artwork’ The Weekend Australian, News Corp Australia, Surrey Hills, 20-21 June 2020

De Boer, Janet, ‘The Embroiderers’ Guild’, Embroidery the Textile Art Magazine, Aylesbury, March/April 2020

Rosa, Ellen, ‘NFT artist Beeple and embroidered organs that get personal’, The Art Show, radio Interview, ABC Radio National, Broadcast Wed 18 May 2022

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-art-show/blak-douglas-beeple/13885862

Vannier, Charlotte, Threads, Contemporary Embroidery Art, Thames & Hudson, London, 2019, pp. 204-205

Shin, Ema, Textile Fibre Forum #131, ArtWear Publications, Ashburton, September 2018

Vannier, Charlotte, DE FIL EN AIGUILLE - La broderie dans l'art contemporain, Pyramid, Paris, 2018

Woven, Australian Tapestry Workshop, South Melbourne, 2017

 COLLECTIONS

BEEAH Group, United Arab Emirates

Ararat Gallery TAMA, Ararat, Australia

Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Machida, Tokyo

Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Bluestone Collection, Melbourne, Australia

RMIT Art Collection, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Tamworth Regional Art Gallery, Australia

Private collections