Home Artist Programs Supported Artists Linda Rotua Sormin

Linda Rotua Sormin

New York, New York

Boru Sibaso Paet, on the foam of the primoridal sea is a mixed media installation in the corner of a darkened gallery. Abstract fragmented shapes are projected on the corner wall, and in front, several abstract assemblage sculptures sit on the floor and others are suspended from the ceiling.

Boru Sibaso Paet, on the foam of the primoridal sea

2023

Pløen is an abstract ceramic sculpture with a base of arcing and bent ceramic tubes splattered with glaze, topped with thin forms of ceramic tangles that jumble and arc upwards in reds, browns and greens, with embedded broken shards of European blue and white pottery.

Pløen

2021

Spill is an abstract ceramic sculpture with a curved bottom, covered with thin forms of ceramic tangles in white red, blue and tans, with embedded fragments of Dutch blue and white pottery.

Spill

2021

Stream shows 3 abstract sculptures made of metal rods, wood, and mixed materials, forming jumbled and fragmented forms that extend upward in the gallery space.

Stream

2021 - 2023

Artworks shown are selected from works submitted by the artist in their grant or residency application. All works are copyright of the artist or artist’s estate.

About Linda Rotua Sormin

Linda Rotua Sormin looks directly at camera, wearing white cat-eye glasses, and a tan leather jacket. A woman with Batak Indonesian and Chinese-Thai heritage, she has short dark and highlighted blonde hair, and medium skin tone.
Photo by Clarence Sormin

Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Linda Sormin immigrated to Canada at the age of five. Since the early 2000’s, Sormin has established a distinct visual and material language, using raw clay, fired ceramics, found objects, and interactive methods. Her sculptures and site-responsive installations embody the vulnerable, fragmentary nature of her diasporic experience. Recent exhibitions include two large-scale installations at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2021-23,) and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (2023). Her solo exhibition Uncertain Ground will open November 2025 at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. Her work is held in collections including MFA Boston and Renwick (Smithsonian). Sormin lives and works in New York City.

Program Participation

Joan Mitchell Fellowship, 2025

Website / Social Links

“ My sculptures are a hands-on embodiment of how visual and spiritual practices of my Batak Indonesian and Chinese-Thai ancestors have, at times unwittingly, infused my artistic practice. By hand-pinching kinetic clay forms and integrating found objects, painting, sound, and video, I gather knowledge and share stories through imagery and raw materials, within shifting cultural contexts. My recent research of traditional divination books and Batak script and language connects me with my own personal and familial diasporic histories.”