Kim Lim: Sculpting Light

Allegro Print, Singapore, 2018. 33 pp.

“Space, light and intervals to me are as important as form, structure and volume in the language of sculpture.”

STPI kicks off SAW 2018 with British-Singaporean pioneer sculptor and printmaker Kim Lim, who exploited light and rhythm to extraordinary effect. This marks the first major solo exhibition of the late artist’s exquisite works on paper and sculptures here in Singapore. They span over three decades and reveal her stimulating and bold approach towards both mediums which distinguished her as a true pioneer.

Turning away from convention, Lim viewed paper as a sculptural material, much like stone and wood. She embraced the shaping process of lines eating into the surface in techniques such as intaglio and relief print. Ripples, infinite stalks of grass, tide lines, undulating currents… Like her arduously hand-carved sculptures, the finely calculated lines in her print works are endlessly evocative, hinting at the sensuous patterns found in nature.

Widely admired by fellow artists and critics alike, Lim drew inspiration from her extensive travels in Asia, from sources as diverse as Khmer temples and Japanese gardens, to early Chinese art. The compelling simplicity and symmetry of her œuvres capture the paradox of stillness and continuous motion. As a seamless body of work, they transcend the disciplines of sculpture and paper to invoke a moving experience – one of luminosity, pulse, and weightlessness.

“Kim Lim is working at the point of a confluence of Eastern and Western modes of thought and practice that is of the profoundest importance for the art of our time. She deserves recognition as one of our finest sculptors.” – Art Monthly, 1986