Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts lecturer Lim Soo Ngee is an artist specialising in sculpture making. His teaching and mentoring of the younger generation influenced numerous emerging local artists. While working as a teacher, Lim actively participates in the happenings of the local visual arts scene and international sculpture symposiums. His approach to art epitomises the practice-led teaching curriculum of the Academy. Lim graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art (Sculpture) from NAFA in 1989 and attained his Master’s in Fine Art at Edinburg College of Art at the Heriot-Watt University in 1997. Known to work with natural materials and to imbue them with local references, Lim usually expresses himself through metaphorical and whimsical figures reflecting humanity and the human condition. 

Ah Hoon is an example of his explorations in woodcarvings. Carved from an old pillar salvaged from a demolished house, Ah Hoon was named after her windswept hair that took the shape of a cloud. The complex posture of Ah Hoon, from the tip of her windswept hair to the ends of her pointed toes, demonstrates Lim’s skilled execution of proportion, unveiling a new and unique physical form from the old piece of wood. The sculpture exemplifies Lim’s attempt to link contemporary art expression with traditional craftsmanship.