- Leon Lim
Leon Lim (born in Kedah, Malaysia) was schooled in Penang, Malaysia, and lives in New York City. He is profoundly deaf since birth and his deafness developed his strong sense of seeing. He is a artist, designer and photographer and received his Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. He was also known as "a 14-year-old boy who lived alone in the apartment."
As a child, Lim discovered colorful prints covered on music cassettes which brought him into the art world. Lim has been creating works ranging from paintings and sculptures to interior architecture and graphic designs to multimedia and art installations and photographs. The solo voyager, who has traveled to more than 33 countries worldwide, often explores themes of heritage preservation, social segregation, mortality, interactive communication, and the politics of identity and culture.
He, the raising artist continues working on his creative installations for further exhibitions in Asia and Europe. Lim's recent multimedia installation has been exhibited internationally at Seoul's Total Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea in July 2008. His works have been exhibited at galleries such as the
John F. Kennedy Center , Washington DC and theWorld Financial Center , New York City.Rochester Institute of Technology launched a permanent art installation show, "The 3(656)" made by Leon Lim.Lim is one of the 17 New York City artists, including Artist
Chuck Close featured in the 2009 calendar for theMayor of New York City .Bank of America , Bank of America’s Disability Affinity Group,Pitney Bowes andWilliams Lea donated their time and effort to help make the calendar a reality.In New Straits Times interview, Lim quoted,
"“People generally cannot see beyond a deaf or dumb person’s physical handicap. Many of them have hidden talent. All that is required is a little prodding, a push. Give them a little encouragement. They are not as disabled as you might think,”"
Sources
* [http://www.ny1.com/Default.aspx?SecID=1000&ArID=78369 NY1 featured Leon Lim's video art installation at the World Financial Center. February 08, 2008. ]
* [http://www.visitpenang.gov.my/portal/upcoming-events.html?task=view_detail&agid=4&year=2008&month=7&day=9&catids=55 Penang State Government invited Leon Lim. July 09, 2008]
* [http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2008b/pr312-08.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 The Mayor of New York City's 2009 Calendar. August 23, 2009]
* [http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/06/178_25742.html Deaf Malaysian Artist Wants to Help Young Koreans. 11 June 2008]
* [http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/7/12/north/21783691&sec=north The Star Newspaper has interviewed with Leon Lim, alumni of Federation School for the Deaf Alumni, Penang, Malaysia. 12 July 2008]
* [http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/SundayPeople/article/Features/20080809173156/Article/index_html New Straits Times' Interview with Leon Lim. 10 August 2008]
* [http://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/full_text.php?article_id=686 New Artwork Spruces Up Student Development Center. April 9, 2008]
* [http://www.artdaily.org/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=23022&int_modo=1 ArtDaily.org featured Leon's video installation]
* [http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/78672?tid=35 林明生的沉默故事 (Leon Lim of The Silent Story). 12 August 2008]
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