Rich culture, childhood memories influence artist in pandemic

Skye Lin created pop-up floral shop to brighten lives.

Q: My daughter gave me a breathtaking floral arrangement from Pinker Times. Can you tell me about this pop-up shop and the owner?

A: Pinker Times’ pop-up shop at Buckhead Village is the creation of 27-year-old Skye Lin. She offers a flower bar and a variety of fresh or dried bouquets and arrangements. The artist also rotates a floral art installation to bring joy and beauty to others.

A spray of self-arranged flowers picked up Lin’s mood. The pandemic had hit, and everyone was in lockdown, postponing and canceling her work. The door closed on her plans to move to New York, a dream of hers as a young girl.

“It was a way for me to output the negative energy,” said the photographer and installation artist. “Originally Pinker Times was going to be an art project. I think I was getting really homesick at the moment, and in my way of coping, I put arrangements together and posted them on Instagram.

“Hoping for better days ahead of us, Pinker refers to happier times,” she said.

Born in China and raised in Vietnam, Lin was surrounded by a “lot of texture, nature and rawness.” Finding beauty in Mother Nature, she simply wanted to brighten others’ days.

“I saw how simple, like how flowers have such an impact on people’s emotions and moods. They are so relatable really to all ages, all kinds of people. They have this universal language: ‘Hey, I love you. My condolences. I’m sorry,’” she said. “That was so interesting to me, and I wanted to explore that.”

With no intent of starting a business, Lin found others loved her floral designs, and the requests for making them multiplied.

“I really just thought about making art and making people happy. It grew so quickly. I think because of the pandemic, people needed to reconnect, to show love and speak to people while being farther away.”

“My parents were strict and risked everything for me to come to America,” the artist said. “That sacrifice makes me believe in resilience and hard work, which defines my work ethics.”

The pop-up shop will wrap mid-March, but the artist is looking at possibilities for a permanent space for what she considers to be a long-term project.

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COURTESY One of Skye Lin’s favorite times of the year is peonies season in the summer. Her pop-up shop will wrap midMarch, but she is pondering a permanent space.