Lim Wei-Ling Esme graduated from the School of Visual Arts, Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia with a BA in Jewellery/Silversmithing.

She has been painting and designing jewellery throughout her years as a stockbroker but has never exhibited any of her works publicly. Now after devoting an entire year to exploring colour and depth on canvas, she has finally accumulated enough paintings to put together a body of work entitled “Botanica”.

Artist’s Statement
My earliest recollection of painting is from the time when I was 5 or 6. Colours have always fascinated me – colours that match as well as clash, receding and outstanding colours. In my paintings, the colours appear to me as though they are on stage all playing their own part, the highlights making a statement in the foreground and the others receding into the background yet complementing the main feature.

My treatment of the colours draws the viewer into the canvas. After much experimentation with various subject matter ranging from the creases in a piece of silk, to rugged landscapes to the fold of a wilted leaf, I decided to concentrate much of this collection on the “interiors” of flowers.

The flowers that I repeatedly used in paintings for inspiration were peonies and roses. I zoomed in on segments of a flower (Fantasia 3) and concentrated on petal formations. The sensuousness of the curve of a petal, it’s softness to the touch and how the petals join together to make a flower have influenced my use of colours in my paintings.

In a number of my paintings, I have decided to do a pair or a series to demonstrate how colours change the field of the same shapes and spaces. They are done in complementary colours so that the range can be seen distinctly. Succulent Pair, Rose IV & V, the Four Seasons, Fantasia Day and Night (in turquoise), Peony Red and Peony in Blue and Yellow are good examples of this.

I enjoy the process of seeing how the canvas is transformed from a blank space to one that draws you to its center. To me a painting should evoke positive feelings and good energy that permeate throughout one’s mind and space. “Escapism” is probably the best term to describe my art, as that is also what I experience when I am in the process of creating a painting. This is also what I want for my audience when viewing my works.

It is my hope that my art will pondered upon and most importantly, enjoyed. I want your senses to be engulfed by the painting’s vortex.