“Transformation 1 – Pewter” emerges from Lim’s 2017 solo exhibition at Gajah Gallery titled “Under the Shadow of the Banyan Tree”. In this new body of work, Lim draws inspiration from the ancient Hindu text “Bhavagad Gita”, where the banyan tree is often recounted as a metaphor for the material and spiritual worlds. A genus of woody trees (‘ficus’ family) with aerial prop roots commonly sighted around Asia, the banyan is a resilient and invasive species known to germinate on a host tree, exhibiting strangling behaviour as its sprawling roots grow vigorously, smothering and killing its host with time. The experience of “Transformation 1” is augmented by lighting candles on the stem-like receptacles of the glazed stoneware, with the organic melting and cascading of wax materializing as the banyan’s strangler roots overtime. Such poetic imagery recalls the artist’s “Duet with Light” performances, where he negotiates the elements of risk and chance with candlelight. The burning candles introduce the element of performativity into an otherwise static medium, blending Lim’s technical mastery in sculpting with influences from his performance practice.
