Jongseok Lim 임 종 석

Jewelry artist

Jongseok Lim reinterprets the traditional metalworking technique of filigree into a contemporary sculptural language. By drawing metal into hair-thin wires, twisting, layering, and compressing them into delicate yet resilient forms, he transforms a labor-intensive craft into intricate organic structures. Although filigree has largely fallen out of favor among contemporary craftspeople due to its demanding process, Lim revives the technique through his own distinctive artistic practice, revealing its rich textures and expressive potential.

In The Ancient Travels series, Lim draws inspiration from insects, primordial forests, and ancient seas that exist between memory and imagination. The layered and twisted metal threads evoke the textures of unknown creatures, inviting viewers to journey backward through time—from the present to an unimaginably distant past. Through repetitive handwork, rough surfaces, and traces of burning and transformation, his works reflect the unpredictable cycles of life, where fear, joy, decay, and renewal continuously overlap. The resulting forms become a visual language born from pure curiosity and instinct, revealing beauty through the accumulation of time, process, and material.

Education

2016 MFA in Metalwork and Jewelry, Kookmin University, Seoul, S. Korea

2013 BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry, Konkuk University, Cheongju, S. Korea

Major Permanent Collections

2020 Seoul Museum of Craft Art, S. Korea

Seoul Culture Headquarters, S. Korea

2020 Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School, Italy

2018 Pureun Cultural Foundation, S. Korea

Victoria & Albert Museum, UK

2016 CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

Design Museum Den Bosch, Netherlands

Selected Awards