Joyce Lin
Designer, educator, furniture maker
Joyce Lin is a Houston-based sculptural furniture maker whose work explores the relationship between surface and structure and the eroding boundaries between the natural and human-made. Merging meticulous craftsmanship with experimental processes in wood, found materials, fiberglass, and more, she reimagines familiar forms—chairs, tables, and other functional archetypes—as studies on dissection, reconstruction, and mimicry.
Raised in Birmingham, AL, Lin attended the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program, where she earned degrees in Furniture Design and Geology-Biology. Her work has been exhibited at institutions and galleries including R & Company (New York), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Her pieces are held in the collections of the RISD Museum, the Mint Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, Munson, Houston Civic Art Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and SFMOMA.
In addition to her studio practice, Lin teaches woodworking and design, including at the Rhode Island School of Design and TXRX Labs in Houston. She was awarded the 2025 John D. Mineck Fellowship by the Society of Arts + Crafts.
Topics / Strengths:
-Developing a cohesive body of work
-Balancing creativity, uncertainty, and career sustainability
-Portfolio review
-Exhibitions & working with galleries