featured artists
a closet left ajar
Get absolutely everything out in the open with Jae Lim.
Jae Lim is a multi-disciplinary artist whose works explore the ambiguous borderlands between the private and public realms in a contemporary queer context.
While in South Korea, a conservative nation in terms of LGBTQ+ issues, the real Jae Lim went into hiding. In contrast, coming to London and experiencing the vibrancy of its queer scene was akin to stepping out of the darkness. What Jae discovered was a collection of safe spaces in which to express a more authentic sense of self without fear of judgment or reprisal. The capital offered freedom in abundance, expanding his possibilities and urging him to experiment, both in life and in art.
Jae did not identify himself as a queer artist upon arrival in London. Over time, however, he found the time, space, and confidence to create works that unapologetically confronted the forces of oppression. Living in a city so layered with eclectic histories and diverse communities, he became more generous with himself, deepening his appreciation of identity as multiple and quintessentially fluid.
A watershed moment for Jae came when he had the chance to show his work at Queer Migrations in Greenwich, an impactful exhibition that brought together artists who each explored the intersections of queerness and mobility in a host of unique and moving ways. Seeing his pieces in dialogue with significant others reinforced the incredibly collective nature of queerness, as shaped by border crossings, historical shifts, and fundamentally human encounters that facilitated belonging in the in-between.
With newfound clarity, Jae pays close attention to how he captures, perceives, and reconstructs the machinations of his mind as well as the spirit of the times. During the pandemic, for instance, he was drawn to the particularities of thermal cameras, forms of vision that depict temperature in ways that simply cannot be disguised. For Jae, this way of seeing became a metaphor for life, empowering him to strip away surface-level defense mechanisms and lay bare the undeniable realities trapped beneath.
Threshold of Visibility (2025) epitomizes Jae’s time in London. It deals with the enduring tension between being seen and remaining hidden, between hyper-visibility and total erasure. As a form of activism, this oil on canvas piece resists and reframes mainstream narratives of visibility. It is about negotiating a place in a city that embraces and scrutinizes differences all at once.
When his works meet an audience, Jae’s inner world emerges from the margins, as secrets once locked behind closed doors are boldly left ajar. In London, he continues to fling the closet wide open, disclosing personal truths in the public domain. In doing so, Jae’s demons are externalized, permitting him to evolve as a human being far beyond the confines of his artistic practice.
