This is the work of Won Ju Lim, the current artist-in-residence for the Spring term. She calls this piece "Untitled Silence," an appropriate name for the anonymity associated with cities and the sense of silence that Lim's minimalist structures evoke. The exhibition has the ability to overwhelm, however, due to Lim's skilled use of alternative materials and a variety of mediums.
"Her work is this cross-pollination of all these different disciplines that we teach," said Gerald Auten, director of the studio art exhibition program. "I would say sculpture, installation and video, time-based art."
Although Lim is an installation artist and sculptor, she is also versed in architecture, a background that is clearly evident in her work. Amidst the projections and lights of "Untitled Silence," there are multiple platforms holding a variety of abstract sculptures, some depicting Lim's version of landscapes and cityscapes. One table in the corner shows a miniature city with pink, gray and white buildings made of colored glass. Another table shows bright pink sculptures of what look like fantastical minerals, also made of glass.
"There were a lot of issues that I was interested in pursuing, and I thought that architecture would be the way," explained Lim in an interview with The Dartmouth. "I realized that there are a lot of issues that have to do with architecture that can be realized in fine art issues that deal with space and subject-object relationship and scale."
One way that Lim deals with these themes is with her use of materials. Aside from glass, Lim features a variety of building materials such as colored plaster, hot glue sticks and aluminum in all of her work. These combinations create a relatable landscape, but also elicit a non-sensical, whimsical feel. Another of her exhibitions, "Broken Landscape," depicted rolling green hills made of Plexiglas and covered in dripping, colored plaster.
"I'm interested in creating skin," Lim said. "So you have the sculpture that is made out of multi-medium and then I cover it with another medium, and then the projection also acts as another skin. There are layers and layers and layers of skin that interrupt and fragment each other, but eventually they come together in a seamless way."
According to Lim, projections also play an integral part in her work. In some of her earlier works, Lim uses futuristic images from such movies as "Blade Runner" (1982) and "Logan's Run" (1976) superimposed on her sculptures to depict realistic yet fantastical cityscapes. The rotating projection in "Untitled Silence" gives the sensation of looking at things through some sort of lens, a phenomenon that Lim has been interested in since she was a child. At her lecture preceding the opening reception of the gallery on Tuesday, Lim described visions of old refineries in California as viewed during childhood car rides, which inspired the science-fiction quality of her work.
"I remember as a kid sitting in the backseat of my dad's car looking out through the windshield and having all kinds of fantasies," Lim said. "Because this for me was so futuristic and super romantic."
Aside from science-fiction films, Lim's other creative influences have developed and grown over the past decade of her career. Just like her work, the range of Lim's inspirations is at the same time overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Whether Caravaggio's paintings, which Lim admires for their use of light and color, or the eastern Baroque architecture Lim spent time exploring last summer, Lim adapts these influences to her own unique direction.
"The relationship between influence, or a certain point of departure in art-making, and what the art eventually becomes at the very end is not a linear one," Lim said. "So that the work is never didactic, I'm not interested in didacticism."
Lim's exhibition "Untitled Silence" will run until May 1. During that time, Lim will be working with members of the Dartmouth and Hanover communities in a variety of forms as artist-in-residence.
