Jialin Long is a lens-based artist, who was born in Beijing, China and lives outside Dublin. She graduated with a first-class honours degree in photography from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in 2020, winning multiple awards with her project Red Illuminates, which has been exhibited and published with photography institutions throughout Ireland, Europe, the UK, and Canada. Her latest work is a project commissioned by The Creative Ireland/ Dublin City Council Arts Office around the theme of diversity, which challenges stereotyped views of the Chinese community in Dublin. Long is a recipient of the Visual Arts Bursary Award 2021 and Agility Award 2022 from the Arts Council. Her photographs are in the collections of the Arts Council Ireland and with private collectors.
Her practice focuses on issues in contemporary culture, and it uses new presentation strategies to explore social and political issues in an attempt to formulate alternative statements and positions. Her early experience grew up in the capital of the largest communist country, then moved to Ireland and was exposed to capitalism, which set the foundation of her interest in her art practice.
For this commission from The Dock, she’s planning to work on an essay in response to the portraits and interview she had with her project Sheng Nv, which means “The Leftover Women”. This term was invented to shame single women who have passed the age of marriage generally considered by society but are still unmarried.
