• News
  • Add Your Events
  • Support & Advertise
  • Contact Us

Logo

Navigation
  • Art News
  • Art Listings
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • Auctions
    • Workshops
    • Talks
    • Guided Tours
    • Festivals, Markets, Parties
    • Kids’ & Families’ Events
    • Performances
    • Film
    • Open Calls
  • Art Venues

Breaking the Mold with Michelle Lim

Columns The Substation Soapbox
Beggars Brunch (2014) presented at CreatorySG

Beggars Brunch (2014) presented at CreatorySG

Ceramicist Michelle Lim is the latest addition to The Substation’s Associate Artist Research Programme (AARP). With clay as her preferred medium, her works address ideas that span across areas such as consumerism, community, and identity, leading to projects such as Awaken the Dragon, Singapore’s first ceramics festival. She speaks about her artistic motivations, and her preoccupation with food.

Chelsea Chua: Could you tell us a bit more about why you choose to specialise in ceramics, and what kind of issues you address through your work?

Michelle Lim: As my works have often been about addressing mass consumerism, awareness towards mass production (factory workers) or bringing attention to the individual, clay has been a voice for me as it is a material with a ready ability to multiply and create works en masse and yet be singular because of its process they are never identical. But the greatest allure has to be its magical ability to shape shift from liquid to solid, from 2D to 3D, and even from a state of impermanence to permanent – it is a world with endless possibilities.

CC: Tell us about your AARP project. What are you hoping to investigate though the project, and what inspired it?

ML: I have always worked with the notion of food in my works as I find that it encourages interaction and that it draws out more information from the audience, and thereby drawing out information about the work.
With my time in AARP, I hope to question further of what other roles clay or ceramic take in the form of a serving vessel. Do the vessels contain certain characters because they are perceived to be handmade? And to what extent does our society understand ‘handmade’ oppose to ‘factory’ made. Do the vessels’ perceived characters help lift an environment and its contents? These answers are to be drawn out from the audience through a series of curated meals.

CC: Any future projects you’d like to tell us about?

ML: A project that I am looking forward to is in 2015, as part of the Australian Ceramics Triannale, I will be setting up an interactive dining experience and this installation will be part of my research in AARP. It will be pretty exciting because of the unfamiliar audience.
I am also working on the second installation of Awaken the Dragon, a community project that revolves around the last two dragon kilns and Singapore’s history in ceramics. It is project that I co-founded with Post-Museum, as we felt that it was important for people to know about our early beginnings in this craft – who say Singapore last time no art!

Share this story:
  • tweet

Comments are closed.

Art Calendar

SAGG on Facebook

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 days 11 hours ago

www.eco-business.com/press-releases/uob-partners-sg-eco-fund-to-bring-sustainability-and-art-to-the-community/

UOB partners SG Eco Fund to bring sustainability and art to the community

UOB, one of Singapore’s leading banks, and the SG Eco Fund have announced a two-year partnership to drive greater community awareness of sustainability and art.

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 week 2 days ago

www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/eight-singapore-indie-booksellers-launch-bookshop-sg-as-amazon-alternative

Eight Singapore indie booksellers launch Bookshop.sg as Amazon alternative

The online store, which launches on May 14, describes itself as an act of "radical cooperation". Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 week 4 days ago

www.asiaone.com/singapore/over-50k-gold-coins-cash-stolen-veteran-artist-koeh-sia-yongs-home-while-he-was-bali

Over $50k in gold coins, cash stolen from veteran artist Koeh Sia Yong's home while he was in Bali

SINGAPORE — While veteran Singaporean artist Koeh Sia Yong was away in Indonesia for nearly two months earlier in 2025, his bedroom drawers back home were emptied of more than $50,000 in valuables. The 87-year-old returned to his two-bedroom unit at The Interlace condo in Depot Road on March 15 to...

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 week 5 days ago

danamic.org/2025/05/11/order-is-essential-what-we-learnt-about-fernando-zobel-at-his-national-gallery-exhibit/

Order is Essential: What We Learnt about Fernando Zóbel at his National Gallery Exhibit

Come learn with us about the life, thoughts and works of Fernando Zóbel in a truly transcontinental exhibition that's open right now!

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

4 weeks 18 hours ago

www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/arts-design/how-one-man-made-nude-art-possible-singapore

How one man made nude art possible in Singapore

Yeo Workshop celebrates the legacy of Solamalay Namasivayam, who fought for nude figure drawing when it was still considered 'indecent'. Today, nude figure drawing is a cornerstone of artist training in Singapore Read more at The Business Times.

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 3 weeks ago

www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/lifestyle/robert-zhao-hong-kong-art-week

Robert Zhao Might Be One Of The Best Singaporean Artists That You’ve Never Heard Of, Until Now

We caught up with the creative mastermind behind CHARLES & KEITH’s latest Artist In Residence project.

2
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

1 month 4 weeks ago

cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/style-beauty/plain-prints-project-shirts-menswear-461761

This Singapore fashion brand only makes shirts that make you feel like you’re wearing art

If statement-making shirts are your thing, you’d definitely find multiples styles to like from Plain Prints Project’s designs.

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 months 3 days ago

www.prestigeonline.com/sg/lifestyle/art-plus-design/artists-to-watch-2025-singapore-and-hong-kong/

Artists to watch 2025: Singapore and Hong Kong

We identify emerging talents from eight East Asian countries that should all be on your cultural radar this year.

View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 months 3 days ago

www.asiaone.com/lifestyle/singapore-and-japan-team-create-art-installation-7km-ocean

Singapore and Japan team up to create art installation 7km in the ocean

In 2022, Lakshmi Mohanbabu became the first Singaporean to send her artwork into space. Fast forward a couple of years and the local artist, alongside tech firm NuStar and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is part of another groundbreaking project. This time, she has her art installation heade...

1
View on Facebook
Share

Singapore Art & Gallery Guide

2 months 4 days ago

www.timeout.com/singapore/news/a-new-arts-venue-focusing-on-immersive-experiences-will-open-at-gardens-by-the-bay-this-2025-031925

A new arts venue focusing on immersive experiences will open at Gardens by the Bay this 2025

This new attraction in Singapore has a special zone for multi-sensory projection art and a gallery space for mixed media

2
1
View on Facebook
Share
  • News
  • Add Your Events
  • Support & Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
© 2020. Singapore Art & Gallery Guide
We use cookies that are necessary for the website's functions. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkNoRead more