Artist Justin Lim is primarily a painter who uses his art to explore local traditions and issues affecting Malaysian culture. Social commentary or “what is happening around us” is the role of art, he suggests. “The work doesn’t dictate how audiences should perceive the work but it should raise more questions than it answers.”
While the subject matter of Lim’s paintings is often politically linked, he doesn’t see himself as an activist. The works comment on everything from Malaysian censorship and religious laws related to the country’s Muslim status to exploring Malaysian ghost myths. These are stories that a grandmother in a rural kampung or village would tell, including the Orang Minyak, a ghost that is human but wants supernatural powers, or the Toyol, a child ghost that steals things.