Lim's multi-media practice examines the dialogue between real and imaginary space as they relate to fantasy, memory and longing, as well as the various transformations that can occur in the connection between a space and its perception.[6] She works with materials including foam-core modules,[7] architectural maquettes, light installations and video projections.[6][4][8]
She uses Plexiglas to create three-dimensional miniaturist landscapes, resulting architectural forms, which are illuminated by image projectors from within. Her mixed media installations immerse the viewer in a world of colors, shadows and light, fantasy and nostalgia.[9]
Structures are used simultaneously as screens and light refractive lenses, creating shadows and distorting projections on the walls of the gallery.[10] Works like Ruined Traces (2007), 24 Seconds of Silence (2008), Upside Down Huntington (2005), Upside Down Wilmington (2005), Elysian Field (2001) and Schliemann's Troy (2001) are all examples of such installations.[11][12]
In addition to exhibiting in group and solo shows in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, Lim has been participated in the Munster Sculpture Biennial (2001), the Gwangju Biennale (2002), and the Incheon Women's Biennale (2007). In 2018, the San Jose Museum of Art will present California Dreamin', a solo exhibition of her work.
Since 2016, Lim has been an Assistant Professor and the Chair of Sculpture in Graduate Studies at Boston University. She is represented by Haines Gallery in San Francisco, CA; Patrick Painter Inc. in Los Angeles, CA; and Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin, Germany).[14]
Selected exhibitions
California Dreamin', solo exhibition; and The House Imaginary, group exhibition, San Jose Museum of Art, CA (2018)
Won Ju Lim: Longing for Wilmington, solo exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (2000)
Awards and recognition
Lim is the recipient of several grants and awards, including the Philip Morris Artist Grant (2002);[3][15] an Emerging Artist Fellowship from the California Community Foundation (2004); Korean Arts Foundation of America for the Visual Arts (2005); a Media Arts Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation (2007); Creative Capital Fund (2014); and C.O.L.A. Individual Artist Fellowship (2016).[3][16][17][18]
She was also invited to be an Artist-in-Residence at Dartmouth College in 2011.
Public collections
Institutions that collect Lim's work include San Jose Museum of Art, CA; Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland; T-B A21, Vienna, Austria; ULCA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; M+ Museum, Hong Kong, China; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, CA; and La Colección Jumex, Estado de México.
^ abHolzwarth, Hans W. (2009). 100 Contemporary Artists A-Z (Taschen's 25th anniversary special ed.). Köln: Taschen. pp. 342–347. ISBN978-3-8365-1490-3.
^Johnson, Ken (3 June 2005). "Everywhere's the Same: Nowhere in Particular". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2017. A theatrical installation by Won Ju Lim has scores of boxy plastic and foam-core modules arranged like a sprawling model city in a darkened gallery, with slides of an actual smoking city at night projected onto it and the surrounding walls. It conjures a visionary hellishness.
^McFaden, Jane; Kraus, Chris; Tumlir, Jan (2005). LA Artland: Contemporary Art From Los Angeles. London: Black Dog Publishing. p. 218. ISBN978-1904772309.
^Miles, Christopher (Summer 2003). "Won Ju Lim". Artforum. NY. p. 194. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^Betancourt, Michael (2004). Re-Viewing Miami: A Collection of Essays, Criticism, & Art Reviews (1 ed.). Wildside Press. p. 11. ISBN9780809511228.
^Hsieh, Catherine Y. (July–August 2008). "Broken Silence"(PDF). NY Arts. NY: NYArts. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^Isé, Claudine (2005). Vanishing Point. Columbus, Ohio: Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University. p. 64. ISBN9781881390374.
