April 1, 2005
6:00 PM
World Trade Center
Roxas Boulevard
Pasay City

Here is the foreword of the book from Agnes Gund.

Rarely does one in the art world have the opportunity to come across an artist who is as pure and as talented as Lenore RS Lim. With her Filipino heritage and her professional life in Vancouver and here in New York, Lim is a printmaker who continually seeks out new processes, rediscovers lost techniques, and combines abstract and representational imageries. Her work becomes an assessment of technique and a beacon for creativity.

Lim’s prints take on an empirical tone as she distills and abstracts images found primarily in nature, whether they be leaves or the spider web-like qualities of handmade lace. Her coloration is subdued and yet rich. Abstract and yet realistic. She deftly captures the finest of lines and nuances and translates them into new textures and tonalities.

Her interest is in taking three dimensional imagery, flattening it on paper, and thus creating two dimensional images of extraordinary depth. The richness in her work is found in both the distinct edge and the abstract center. She demarcates space while creating areas for the viewer to become completely absorbed. Line takes on greater significance than simply implying the mastery of her craft and subject alludes to her enduring curiosity.

Her process includes the carborundum monoprint, collotypes, solar etching, and other formats demonstrating her attention to the creation of work exclusively in the print environment. Although earlier works included silkscreen and computer generated images, Lim has found herself most comfortable and most successful using more traditional printmaking techniques which are reliant on craft and the use of the press.

I have had the privilege of owning Lim’s work and sharing it with others. Her work made an immediate impression upon me, much as the printmaking process makes an indelible impression on the paper. Her work stays with you, brings you strength and beauty, and also challenges us to think again about printmakers and their rightful place in the art cannon at the beginning of this new millennia.

Lim is unique in that she works only in printmaking. In an age when so many artists find prints to be an adjunct to their main area of interest, perhaps painting for example, Lim continues to explore and to luxuriate in all that printmaking can offer as a medium of choice for artists today.

This book represents an important milestone for the artist. As the first catalogue surveying Lim’s artistic output, it creates both a record of accomplishment as well as a means of sharing her work with a broader audience. With thoughtful essays and an interview with the artist, it promises to be an insightful and beautiful means of engaging the reader with the exquisite art work of Lenore RS Lim.


Agnes Gund
Chairman and President Emerita
The Museum of Modern Art, New York