작품 상세

At first glance, delicate blossoms bloom from gnarled branches, set against an obsidian ground; closer inspection reveals rows of steel razor blades lacing the painted limbs. Their glint collapses illusionistic space into physical threat, converting decorative beauty into a sharpened warning. Following a residency at Rimbun Dahan in 2008, Justin Lim began embedding his botanical still lifes with unexpected intruders such as razor blades, bullets and barbs, turning flowers into cautionary talismans, which was hailed as a radical twist on the still-life genre. Early solo shows had already positioned flowers as mutable symbols of desire and danger, but Lim's later works sharpened the metaphor, allowing steel to "clog the jute's weave like industrial residue" and echo environmental and political critiques. The unsettling beauty of Lim's earlier art lies in this interplay of allure and threat. His decorative motifs carry hidden cautions: beauty often hides violence or decay. While his current practice has shifted towards the more serene and picturesque, the legacy of those steel-thorn motifs remains a reminder that in Lim's world, "flowers carry tenderness and warning in the same breath."