Cal State Fullerton students are invited to immerse themselves in the local artist’s mesmerizing display at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana.
Artist Hings Lim’s striking solo exhibit “Specter at the Gate,” focused on the intentional burning of Santa Ana’s Chinatown in 1906, an order executed by the officials of Santa Ana. Using various items such as human hair, projectors and news clips from the event, Lim conveyed the hardships of this time.
Lim uses personal experiences as a person of color in art and focuses on making pieces for himself rather than others.
“The things that I make, I would say [are] hard to make to sell in a way for financial gain,” Lim said. “But it does do something else in terms of my own understanding of the world. If you’re interested in making a living from that, you totally can.”
Students of all majors, interested in art, were able to attend the events. During Lim’s lecture, the audience were able to interact with Lim and ask various questions about upcoming projects and techniques.
Ruth Cinco, a fourth-year creative photography major with a focus on experimental media, said the projector for the city hall truly showed how much effort Lim put into replicating it.
“It was actually an interesting experience to see how an artist based in Los Angeles that was from out of state talked about his experience through different research about different countries,” Cinco said.
Julian Sanchez, a fourth-year studio art major, also participated in Lim’s lecture. As an experienced student in the school’s art program, Sanchez said there were many opportunities to shadow successful artists.
“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to see artists work and personally meet artists in a few different classes. It was actually my second time seeing him for this installation class,” Sanchez said. “I actually saw him for a special studies class where the installation actually was. It’s great to see all these artists.”
Sanchez highlighted the process of becoming an artist and what it takes to achieve recognition including the value of getting first-hand experience.
“Seeing it fills me with ideas as well. Of course it’s always great to hear the artist’s life story and see how that connects to their work,” Sanchez said. “It’s about maybe five different sections, including installation with the hair, and photographs, and video projections. It’s all sorts of stuff that all comes together in one really cohesive narrative that he puts together.”
Lim hopes to use this exhibit to inspire creativity and the versatility to turn anything into art.
“I think art is a way of thinking [of] things,” Lim said. “Everything can be art.”
