Centaur II

Narrator: This is a work titled Centaur Two. Now, I know what you’re thinking—isn’t a centaur that mythical half-human, half-horse creature from Greek mythology? This sculpture is more about showcasing vertical lines and height. It marries bronze and wood, with a base of three wooden blocks. Each block is smooth and flat on one side, curved on the other. These blocks are stacked on top of each other, slightly off-center, but they’re balanced. Three slender bronze shapes, looking like the prongs of a trident, rise straight up from the topmost wooden block. The teal-green bronze shows visible dark streaks, giving it a look of rock surfaces eroded over time. The sculpture stands about 146 centimetres tall and 51 centimetres wide. It may not be super tall, but its upright form, sharp outline and the materials convey strength. Here’s Adele Tan, co-curator of the exhibition. Adele Tan: Throughout her practice, Kim Lim found ways to engage viewers with the height and scale of her sculptures. She often stacked components, but she kept her work to a human scale, never beyond what she could physically manipulate or her original vision. On her stone sculptures, Lim would make vertical linear incisions. She often skipped the usual plinths, placing her sculptures right on the ground. When she used plinths, they either seamlessly extended the sculptures or were used to prop up the sculptures to suggest a recess beneath. Centaur Two, which Lim made in 1963, reflects her early mastery of form and material. These totemic, columnar sculptures became one of her signatures. In the 1960s, when women sculptors like Lim were underrepresented, she forged her own artistic style. While she admired sculptors like Henry Moore, Lim was inspired by Constantin Brancusi. She believed sculpture should be “silent and succinct,” with meaning that could be grasped instantly or intuitively. Narrator: In Centaur Two, she also explores the tension between organic and industrial materials, between static and dynamic forms. Adele Tan: Kim Lim’s sculptures appear carefully controlled yet they are also relationally charged and resonant with multiple readings. Her early works invite us to consider how universal abstract forms can connect to cultural references. She often named her pieces after figures from Greek mythology or ancient history, evident in works bearing the titles Centaur and Caryatid, demonstrating the coming together of two disparate entities.