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Last Updated: 34.54.38

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Shan Shan Lim is an artist and designer. Her creations are inherently apotropaic ^[amuletic] and seek to reconcile the past and present in this meta-modern era. Shaped by her nomadic ancestry^[客家] and multicultural upbringing ^{[Malay Archipelago, Himalayas, London]}, her material-led experimentations are grounded in an autoethnographical approach. Co-creation with other-than-human worlds is central to her practice, interacting with the unseen forces that shape matter over time. She is primarily a weaver, embodying weaving as a way of thinking through mediums alongside textiles, such as drawing, photography and sculpting.

“Memories, dreams, lived experiences and imagination hold equal density in the warp of my reality. No cloth exists without tension ∴ it is the tension between the physical and metaphysical that underpins my process: material and ritual repetition to invoke the divine ^[intiation]; archiving to hold space for the intangible ^{[remembrance]}; techniques of resistance to counter the chaos ^{[阴阳 stillness]}; and making as unearthing the primordial ^{[无为太初 surrender]}.”

b.1993, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Working between Helsinki, Ekenās & Kuala Lumpur

Education

MA Art & Design: Fashion & Textile Design
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
2025 - 2027 ^(ongoing)

BA Textile Design
Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2013 - 2016

Diploma in Art & Design
Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
2012 - 2013

RESIDENCIES

2024 ΛΙΑ Residency, Mykonos, Greece
2023 Independent, Himachal Pradesh, India
2022 Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2020 Sepat House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

TALKS

2025 Art Professional Talk, Rise & Repaint
2023 Guest Speaker, Graphic Design Assoc. Malaysia
Guest Speaker, Doma Initiative: Breakfast Club
2022 Guest Lecturer, UCSI University
2017 Pow-Wow 11, Pow Ideas, APW Bangsar
Biji-Biji Initiative, Fashion Revolution

FAIRS etc.

2024 KL Art Book Fair Kuala Lumpur
2023 Exposure+ Photo Kuala Lumpur
2021 Momo’s Art Fair Kuala Lumpur
2018 The 108 Project GMBB, KL , Malaysia
2016 Dust Green Fashion Week, Milan, Italy

Exhibitions

2026 Contemporary Collected Artek, Tokyo, Japan
2025 Contraries Bukit Jalil Tsutaya, KL, Malaysia
2024 Inheritance APW Bangsar, KL , Malaysia
2023 Hello Malaysia Subject Matter Art, Online
2021 Hearth Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
1000 Tiny Artworks The Back Room, KL, Malaysia
2020 How Did We Get Here? Subject Matter Art, Online
Common Threads The Back Room, KL, Malaysia
Portal DECK, Singapore
In Silence We Create futurprimitiv, Online
2019 P!NK Zhan Arts, KL , Malaysia
P!NK Rumah Tangsi, KL , Malaysia
I RISE Art Girl Rising, Sepat House, KL, Malaysia
The Race of Flowers AweGallery PJ, Malaysia
Women Behind The Arts Common Ground, Malaysia
2018 REKA IV Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia
Pivotal The Linc, KL, Malaysia
Women In The Arts Bank Negara Art Gallery, Malaysia
REKA III Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia
REKA II Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia
2017 REKA I Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia
2016 Allineamenti Cinema Gloria, Como, Italy
Dust Central Saint Martins Degree Show, London, UK
2015 Design+Make Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
You Are Here Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, UK

SELECTED CLIENTS / Commissions

Uniqlo
GRAZIA
Universal Music
Subject Matter Art
Fusion Group
Ormond Hotel
KLoé Hotel
YTL Land
KSK Land
Gamuda Land
PIN Prestige x Bvlgari
Sixth Sense

Portrait by Emilia Rautio

() for (_)

(2026) Dissolution ongoing

(2025) Atlas ongoing

Sacred Threads Talismans

(2023) Borders

(2022) Rimbun Dahan

(2021) 3.5 Seconds

(2020) स्वयंभू Swayambhu

(2020) In Silence, We Create

(2016) dust

Works / Info / Contact

⁽⁾ for (_)

⁽²⁰²⁶⁾Dissolution^ongoing

⁽²⁰²⁵⁾Atlas^ongoing

Sacred Threads
Talismans

⁽²⁰²³⁾Borders

⁽²⁰²²⁾Rimbun Dahan

⁽²⁰²¹⁾3.5 Seconds

⁽²⁰²⁰⁾स्वयंभू Swayambhu

⁽²⁰²⁰⁾In Silence, We Create

⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾dust