Overload: Vyolet Jin’s Sublime Excursion Into The World Of Emotional Anguish

Exercising distinctive mastery in the use of Y2K color palettes, the language of space, and the sharp visualization and imagery of emotional insecurity, artist Vyolet Jin’s newest illustrational exhibition is a maelstrom of feelings and self-discovery across four walls of non-stop, loaded tapestry. From the unconfidence to love oneself properly, causing the desire to hide, to an explosive wall mural full of overthinking, overlapping panels, to the anxiety of taking on all the responsibilities of an unyielding modern life and the echoing, infinite todo list, Vyolet successfully tackles her inner turmoil in this ultra-personal expedition into the vulnerabilities of an overloaded mind.

Tucked away in Accent Sister’s Jersey City gallery location is this quaint, early-2000s era exhibit illustrated by rising star Vyolet Jin and curated by Nany Chen. Upon entering the mid-sized, industrialized white room, the audience is immediately drawn to the complete saturation of space taken by Vyolet’s nearly 50 illustrations, inlaid in various sizes and shapes throughout their respective walls. Across each surface hangs a fabric printed and slathered in an aesthetic patchwork of colors and figures. Varnishing each piece of textile is a complex network of stochastically spaced illustration mounted on foam boards, giving the effect of a pop-up window from the ancient html browsers of the early internet age. The computer and all its graphical-user-interface accessories is the vehicle of choice for this fun, stylistic sub-theme as a unifying knot across each plane of the exhibit.

From the onset, the residing representational motif is the use of the filesystem folder icon, stylized and re-colored to represent the three main emotions that are part of Vyolet’s cyclical, downward spiral into emotional purgatory. Unconfidence (blue), Overthinking (pink), and Anxiety (yellow) each have their own sectioned off wall to explore the depth and expanse of that specific flavor of human despair. The use of acrylic, colored, and labeled file folders hanging at a set distance from the introductory wall produces a sublime effect when viewed from a short distance away. This little visual flare is simple yet outstandingly indicative of the full message of the show.

The header poster of the show is a chic take on a brain MRI showing a catalytic release of thoughts from a fatigued and overburdened mind. The image features Vyolet’s propensity for pixel-esque decoratives while showcasing her idiosyncratic love of using bright colors to denote her overtaxed sensory intake. In bright white custom typeface is the word “OVERLOAD”, vainglorious, yet bashful.

The wall of unconfidence stands in stark contrast to its chaotic neighbors. On display is an expertly arranged array of pop-up windows, spaced widely enough to arouse suspicion in the viewer. As if they were looking for a place to not be noticed, the illustrations, which feature the beautiful side-glances or silhouettes of shy women hiding behind various veils, parasols, and curtains, are symbolically far apart enough to represent Vyolet’s lack of pride in her own qualities.

The wall of overthinking is perhaps the most eye-catching piece of work, with nearly ten feet of incessantly spread images juxtaposed with text message shots, color selectors, and every variety of windows and apps forced open on the desktop. Although cluttered, it has an undercurrent of organization amidst the madness. The wall of anxiety is equally jarring with asymmetrically posited red notification symbols over the magnificent full-length illustrations of fashionable women across a fancied e-commerce web store. The viewer is left feeling like an outbreak of hives is on the cusp of fully consuming them and their sanity.

Vyolet leaves the audience off with a cute and perhaps simplistic resolution – despite the emotional duress that life can often coerce us into feeling, to fight back, simply drag-and-drop those pesky emotions into the recycle bin. And behold, the three colored folders sit limp and sterile in a waste bucket at the end of the exhibition! Altogether, OVERLOAD is a transcendent modern work that addresses the cruel reality that we aren’t always as in control as we would like to be of our own subconscious drives.