Charles Lim Yi Yong

Born 1973 in Singapore, Charles Lim studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London, graduating in 2001 with first class honours. Lim’s artistic practice stems from an intimate engagement with both man-made systems and the natural world, mediated and informed by field research and experimentation, drawing, photography and digital video. His epic SEA STATE project, which began in 2005, examines the political and biophysical contours of the nation state through the visible and invisible lenses of the sea. 

Lim’s work has been exhibited widely across Europe and Asia-Pacific, at documenta 11 (with the collective tsunamii.net) in 2002, Manifesta 7 in 2007, Aichi Triennale in Japan in 2016 and at Biennales in Shanghai in 2008, Singapore in 2011, Osaka in 2013, Sydney in 2016, Ireland in 2016, Busan in 2020 and Istanbul in 2022. In 2015, he represented Singapore at the 56th Venice Biennale with SEA STATE. Lim’s short films have also travelled extensively in the film festival circuit; notably his short film, "All The Lines Flow Out" won a Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, making it the first Singapore film to win an award at the prestigious festival.