Edinburgh Printmakers will host the first solo exhibition in Scotland by emerging Singaporean-British artist Hannah Lim whose vibrant artworks have captured the attention of audiences worldwide ahead of further shows in New York and Milan later this year. The London based artist will work in printmaking for the first time as she continues her exploration of East and South East Asian culture and its appropriation for Western audiences.
In her latest exhibition Lim draws on her research into animism as both her larger furniture-like works and smaller ceramic works have a level of anthropomorphism, allowing the artist to develop an idea of living objects. Her research involved looking at a range of Chinese literature focussed on enchanted creatures and objects and mythical storytelling. These include the 'Classics of Mountains and Seas' and Pu Song Ling's 'Tales of a Chinese Studio'. In attempting to interpret and respond to these texts, which are often coded with philosophical and cultural meanings, the artist has developed a practice of sculptural storytelling that explores her own journey of identity searching. The works in this exhibition see Lim interpreting and merging imagery, motifs and stories from Medieval and Chinese bestiaries and mythology.
"I'm intrigued by the crossover of ideas, creatures and anthropomorphism that exists in these Chinese and Medieval bestiaries. There's something intriguing about this shared desire to understand and give meaning to these real and imagined 'beasts'. This whole avenue of research ultimately evolved from exploring my Chinese-Singaporean family's relationship with Christianity and how that has impacted my understanding and exposure to certain aspects of Chinese culture, overtime it has evolved into something more playful and peculiar."
Hannah Lim's exhibition Ornamental Mythologies opens 29 September, 2022 at Edinburgh Printmakers in Gallery 1. The exhibition will run until 20 November.
