If there is a more unsettling yet fascinating fusion of the cute and the grotesque than tiny baby head sculptures, then one would be hard-pressed to find it. Qixuan Lim, born-and-raised in Singapore and now based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, makes these and several other tiny sculptures as a sideline to her work as an information designer. In addition to the heads of miniature sleeping babies, Lim also fashions ceramic sculptures of tiny torsos, utensils, hearts (occasionally with teeth), animal skulls, pigs, and forearms—most of them about the size of a thumbnail. Like the unknown artist who sculpted tiny, ornate prayer beads depicting heaven and hell, her work is at once beautiful and disturbing. And like Stéphanie Kilgast's delectable, miniature food sculptures, Lim's extremely small ceramics are uncannily crafted.Lim, who has also worked as a graphic designer and in editorial and branding, tells Creators that she finds it impossible for her everyday work to meet with her artistic practice. As an information designer, she is working to convey simple, clear ideas in a way that cuts through information overload. In a way, her tiny sculptures, so simple yet complex, do something similar: they break viewers out of the everyday humdrum of the internet's endless procession of images.Lim started sculpting about five years ago. At the time, she was working on an art show during which she was mentored by Pann Lim, a respected figure in Singapore's the creative scene.Continue reading on Creators.
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