Kim Lim

Description

The utter simplicity of the stone wedges, their slightly differing heights and careful placement, with seemingly minimal intervention by the artist, endows this work with serenity and wholeness. Nothing has been left to chance. The rhythms introduced through curves and repetitions are in complete harmony, both within the sculpture itself and in its carefully selected context.

Spiral II is a smaller version of Spiral III, which is in the collection of Alistair McAlpine and is displayed in a large pool interspersed with lily pads at Bishop's House in Perth, Australia. The large version is over four metres wide, and the white Portland stone provides stark contrast with the linear motif of further spirals incised in the seven stones which make this piece.

Kim Lim writes: 'When Lord McAlpine asked me to do a big piece for his garden in Perth, stone seemed to be the obvious choice and Spiral was the result. I have always been intrigued by the way shells are formed, growing in a circular spiral formation. I cut seven wedge-shaped stones, not identical in shape or size, but sufficiently similar to keep the feeling of repetition. I wanted it to have, if possible, the sense of pace, of tempo, by controlling the height of each stone, starting low, rising slightly, then descending, the incised lines linking one stone to the next and accentuating the sweep of the curve.'