Lim Thian Seng

Biography

Lim Thian Seng is an extremely prolific Singaporean artist. Born in 1956, he has received numerous art awards including the Tan Tze Chor Art Award. He has participated in multiple solo and group exhibitions, including a solo exhibition held in the National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore.

Lim’s sculptures feature sleek, masculine lines and defined, sensuous curves that embody strength. The bold modernity and re-configuring of space in his works is tempered by a surprising fluidity and Oriental insight. His works range from auspicious themes to organic shapes that delight the senses with their tangibility.

To Lim, when there is conceptualization there is immediate work. Pausing upon it will become relaxing; never to be unresolved as this will only allow the worldly thoughts to create hindrance. Sculpturing to him is Reflection. Like Kallang River flows silently and reflecting the scenery of skylight, trees and windows. So is sculpturing. An ordinary life intermixes with thoughts and actions. It is a philosophy. It is Art.

In his Ru Yi sculpture, his rendition of the word translates into a form that holds a latent fluidity that tapers off into a frozen splash of water. This is akin to the forward coursing of a river, lending a poetic understanding of the word ru yi, which literally translates to -may all your wishes come true.

In his Eight sculpture, he fashions the number 8 into a series of beautiful curves reminiscent of molten gold. The Chinese pronunciation of the number 8 is ba and sounds like the Chinese word for fa, or prosperity. Therefore, his use of gold in the sculpture cleverly ties the symbolism of the number and its two corresponding words.