Urban: Backyard 《都市：後院》 – Recent Works of Lim Jia Qi

Venue: iPreciation (誰先覺), 50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724

Private Preview: Nov 19, 2022  (By Invitation Only)

Exhibition Opens to Public: Nov 21 – Dec 10, 2022 (By Appointment Only)

Artist statement:

When one thinks of “nature”, we often visualise spaces untouched by humans. In a dense city like Singapore, most nature we see every day are intertwined with our urban spaces. Occasionally, one can observe plants emerging through hidden corners like backyards of residential areas, cracks on concrete floors or creepers using the walls of pillars as scaffolding to climb and grow. However, nature is not alone in trying to survive our urban environment. Every so often, we observe infrastructure being built in a way that preserves existing trees and designated spots allocated for the growth of flora and fauna.

Urban : Backyard 《都市: 後院》 is a series of works based on documentation of everyday spaces in Singapore. It aims to highlight this unique relationship between urban spaces and nature. Through the use of paint on carved wood panels, Lim hopes to shine a light on the mini garden in every corner of our neighbourhood. 

Lim Jia Qi (b. 1997, Singapore) graduated with a degree in fine arts from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 2019. During her time in LASALLE, she was awarded the Ngee Ann Kongsi Scholarship (AY 2017/ 2018) and the LASALLE Award for Academic Excellence in 2017. At the same time, she assisted in conducting numerous printmaking workshops during her internship at Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI). 

Lim had participated in various group exhibitions since 2016. She had also exhibited in “Concrete Encounters” at the Young Talent Programme 18/19 Winner’s Solo Exhibition in 2019, and at the Affordable Art Fair under the ʻYoung Talent Programmeʼ in 2018. 

Unimaginative spaces in our urban environment, most commonly associated with the Singapore “lifestyle” are a key interest in Limʼs work. Similar to how people that grew up in the countryside recognise trees and forests as signs of familiarity, the banal architecture that surrounds Singaporeʼs housing estates and its cold concrete element has become an oddly familiar material that she finds herself drawn to.

Through passive observation of everyday life, Lim endeavours to capture the poetics of these spaces and structures, reconstructing them in terms of narrative and/or the absence of such. The breaking down of forms, shifting in perspectives and hinting of narratives in the works are presented in a bid to challenge viewersʼ emotional attachment and familiarity with these spaces.

Coming from a printmaking background, Jia Qi is interested in the advancement and explorative nature of this traditional medium; adopting techniques with other material adaptions such as carving on concrete slabs. With the architecture of housing flats her main subject matter, concrete material is also explored extensively through casting.

For more information, please contact us at enquiry@ipreciation.com.