Hannah Lim’s enchanted clay objects have a zoomorphic twist, on display at Pangolin London

Hannah Lim explores the creative possibilities working with ceramic, clay and bronze in her current exhibition at Pangolin London. The gallery’s latest artist in residence presents ‘The Enchanted Orchid’, a collection of clay objects. The intriguing collection is Lim's a playful take on Chinese mythology merged with 18th century design, drawn from her Singaporean-British heritage.

Hannah Lim presents ‘The Enchanted Orchid’ at Pangolin London

Lim was inspired by the intricate designs of Chinoiserie, which she fuses with notions of Orientalism, an independent view of eastern and western cultures which is deeply rooted in her dual-heritage. The artist explains: ‘While I was intrigued by the exuberant, ornamental and fantastical nature of Chinoiserie I was also aware of its colonial history and its similarities to cultural appropriation. I wanted to reimagine Chinoiserie in a more appropriate way.’

The results consist of a series of playful and functional, anthropomorphic objects with animal-like tentacles and legs, asking the viewer 'to explore a world where imagination meets cultural heritage'. The colourful collection stays true to Lim’s hallmark vibrancy, with implicit layers of cultural symbolism threaded throughout.

The series consists of an array of ‘Snuff Bottles’ alongside her defining piece in the collection, the ‘Orchid Table’, which marks a new chapter for the artist, working with bronze for the first time. Lim explains the inspiration behind working with the material saying, ’I wanted to create this table-like structure, inspired by my previous sculptures in wood, that reimagine the Chinoiserie aesthetic. The table is designed and built around this central hanging orchid. There is an interesting contrast between the very ornate and delicate elements of the work with the heavy metal chains and balls that hang from the edges of the table and suspend the orchid from the two upper ‘arms’ of the table top.

I like this idea of the Orchid Table looking somewhat enchanted and magical, it pulls together motifs and imagery from many different aspects of my research from the past five years and utilises many different sculptural processes within my practice. This includes sculpting the orchid for casting in polymer clay as well as using my laser cutting files to create the table structure in stainless steel.’

Expanding on the inspiration and impetus behind her practice, Lim is taking part in a panel discussion at Kings Place titled 'Tech Vs. Touch: Making Sculpture in the Digital Age', delving into the impact of digital tools on her work, and how traditional sculptural processes can co-exist alongside new frontiers of technology.

'Tech Vs. Touch: Making Sculpture in the Digital Age' is on until 3 September at 18:00 - 20:00 BST at Pangolin London, with tickets available here

Hannah Lim’s ‘ The Enchanted Orchid’ is on display 14 September at Pangolin London