Spring Pods, 2003 [detail], Smoked Stoneware 7 x 7 x 12cm & 12
x 10 x 23cm
Toowoomba Relics
A solo exhibition by Ceramicist
Jason Lim
Objects as relics: works reminiscent of the ritualized and habitual journeys,
discoveries, sensitivities of sight, sound and smell of Toowoomba’s ecology and
landscape as experienced by Jason Lim through-out his residency in Toowoomba.
[media release attached below]
To be opened by
Dr. Robyn Stewart
Associate Professor
University of Southern Queensland
Followed by a performance by the artist.
Friday 28th November 2003, 6-8pm
@
Craft Queensland Gallery
381 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley
Queensland AUSTRALIA
Exhibition continues until 24th January 2004
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11:00am – 5:00pm
Enquiries: [61] (0)7 3215 0805 or cqgallery@craftqld.com.au
Craft Queensland receives financial assistance from its major sponsors;
Arts Queensland (State Government)
The Australia Council, the Commonwealth Government’s arts funding and advisory
body
Other support received from;
Spicers Paper
ARCIMIX.
Jason Lim residency and solo exhibition in Australia received support from;
Craft Queensland, Brisbane Australia
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba Australia
Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane Australia
National Arts Council, Singapore
Lee Foundation, Singapore
kSd//cGr ART PROFILERS, Singapore
Singapore enquiries:
kSd//cGr ART PROFILERS Karee Dahl ksdcgr@singnet.com.sg or [65] 9618 1642
Jason Lim nosajname@pacific.net.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The visually arresting, tactile works of International Ceramic Sculptor Jason
Lim presents a powerful solo exhibition in the Craft Queensland gallery. Objects
encountered as relics: remnants of the work processes of his practice and the
ritualized, habitual acts of life experienced during his residency in Toowoomba.
At the opening of his exhibition Friday 28 November 6 pm – 8 pm, aptly titled
Toowoomba Relics, Lim will retrace the action and the experience of making in a
performance that encapsulates the senses, extending his art and practice, as he
moves with and between his works.
‘Don’t call him a Potter!’ Toowoomba Relics presents a body of work that you
would not expect from a ceramicist. He replaces everyday functional ceramics
with abstract and experimental objects. It’s not a historical Toowoomba he
responds to: it is the essence of what you might find in nature. ‘Lim’s work
evolves through his interaction with his environment.’
Lim’s work has been described by colleague Anthony Brinks as, ‘applied tacit
knowledge… both the maker and the made remain silent.’ It is the observer
seeking objectivity from the subjective that leads to a specific, yet individual
interpretation of the work. There is movement in these works as we imagine the
finger-like protrusions, opening and closing, coming alive and withdrawing back
into themselves.
Audiences will be actively engaged in a curious search for outcomes and meaning
although simultaneously connecting with the organic interpretation of the
ecology and landscape of Toowoomba. A group of small ceramic pieces titled
‘Tails Without Animals’ speaks directly ‘to separation, disconnection, between
referent and sign,’ as Brinks continues, ‘Welcome to the world of Jason Lim –
the slipstream of signifiers.’
Using a variety of clays and glazes Lim works with a palette of natural, earthy
colours. On completing his residency at the University Southern Queensland,
Toowoomba where he taught ceramics in the visual arts department his students
and colleagues confirm the intensity of his practice and prolific output. His
almost obsessive object making reveals his immense ability of the imagination.
He makes not one but sometimes hundreds or thousands of variations around a
form.
Lim has an established reputation for his work as a performance artist, having
performed in his home base of Singapore, as well as Poland, Japan, Greenland,
Germany and South-East Asia. Lim will perform in Australia at the opening of
Toowoomba Relics at Craft Queensland, Brisbane.
This established international artist Jason Lim graduated with a degree in
ceramics design from the renowned Central St Martins College of Art & Design in
London in 1992. Since then he has had residencies in Japan and Holland and has
exhibited extensively in the international art arena.
Toowoomba Relics Media Contact
International Artist and Performer Jason Lim Jennifer Radley
Opening and Performance Marketing Officer
Friday 28 November 2003 07 3215 0800
Craft Queensland Gallery
Contact: 07 3215 0800
Exhibition dates: 28 November 2003 – 24 January 2004