Siau-Jiun Lim creates acrylic paintings with mixed media that include landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. She grew up in Malaysia, where the air was filled with the scents of wet markets and coconut trees swayed under a bright sun. These early experiences deeply influenced her sensitivity to colour, atmosphere, and emotion. For over twenty years, she has called Dunedin, New Zealand, home. A place where she feels a deep sense of belonging and where her artistic practice has nurtured and change. She has developed a love for the dim, cool colours of the southern landscape.
Siau-Jiun graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours) from the Dunedin School of Art and received the Con Hutton Scholarship during her four years of study. Her work is included in the Wallace Arts Trust Collection, and Moray Gallery represents her. These accomplishments have gradually developed over time, grounded in her careful observation of nature and attention to human stories.
Her practice extends beyond the studio and into everyday life. She engages in community-based projects, such as organising rubbish clean-ups, participating in tree planting at Sinclair Wetlands, and conducting art workshops in rest homes. These experiences shape her perspective and are woven into her paintings. She often goes beyond using traditional brushes, incorporating found objects and creating her own tools from natural materials, allowing texture and bodily gestures to play an active role in her work. For her, painting is a means of understanding place, time, and lived experience.
Siau-Jiun also works as a digital product designer and holds a Master of Design with a focus on personal finance management. Her design research investigates personal finance, integrating systems thinking, human behaviour, and her broader life philosophy.
Siau-Jiun is with
Moray Gallery, Dunedin
https://www.moraygallery.com/
Otago Art Society
https://otagoartsociety.co.nz/
Group Exhibitions
Moray Gallery, Dunedin
https://www.moraygallery.com/
Otago Art Society
https://otagoartsociety.co.nz/
Group Exhibitions
3-16 April 2025
Elemental—group exhibitions
Dunedin Community Gallery
June 2017
St. Leonard School fundraising exhibitions
Otago University students fundraising for
Elemental—group exhibitions
Dunedin Community Gallery
June 2017
St. Leonard School fundraising exhibitions
Otago University students fundraising for
November 2017
Group Exhibition at Dunedin School of Art, Dunedin, New Zealand
Group Exhibition at Dunedin School of Art, Dunedin, New Zealand
November 2017
Dunedin Art Exhibition, Edgar Centre
Dunedin Art Exhibition, Edgar Centre
November 2019
Group Exhibition at Dunedin School of Art, Dunedin, New Zealand
Take a Move 2019 - Collections from Wallace Arts Trust
November 2020
Art+Water exhibition, sciences and art collaboration project- Sinclair Wetland, HD Skinner Annex, Otago Museum
Group Exhibition at Dunedin School of Art, Dunedin, New Zealand
Take a Move 2019 - Collections from Wallace Arts Trust
November 2020
Art+Water exhibition, sciences and art collaboration project- Sinclair Wetland, HD Skinner Annex, Otago Museum
November 2020
Dunedin Art Exhibition, Edgar Centre
Dunedin Art Exhibition, Edgar Centre
Solo Exhibitions
8-22 March 2024
Metamorphosis—The Dragon Ceremony
Ayu Community Space
2016
Webb Farry Lawyers private exhibition
8-22 March 2024
Metamorphosis—The Dragon Ceremony
Ayu Community Space
2016
Webb Farry Lawyers private exhibition
1-12 March 2019
Knowing the Anthropocene
Robert Piggott Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
Knowing the Anthropocene
Robert Piggott Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
Awards
The David Con Hutton Perpetual Trust Memorial Scholarship Scholarship 2017
Important collector
Collections from Wallace Arts Trust:
Alive? An Invitation to a Conversation (2017) Acrylic on canvas, 800x700mm
Take a Move (2019), Acrylic on canvas, 500x600mm
The David Con Hutton Perpetual Trust Memorial Scholarship Scholarship 2017
Important collector
Collections from Wallace Arts Trust:
Alive? An Invitation to a Conversation (2017) Acrylic on canvas, 800x700mm
Take a Move (2019), Acrylic on canvas, 500x600mm
Journal
Scope 2017, art-and-design-13: Painting as a tool for enhancing humans' relationship with nature
Scope 2020, art-and-design-20: Human, you are human
Scope 2020, art-and-design-20: Human, you are human
Education
1995- 1998
Malaysian Institute School of Art
Diploma in Graphic Design (Distinction)
Malaysian Institute School of Art
Diploma in Graphic Design (Distinction)
1999-2000
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Bachelor of Art (Graphic Design), Multimedia (Distinction)
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Bachelor of Art (Graphic Design), Multimedia (Distinction)
2007-2008
Diploma in English Language
Christchurch Polytechnic Institution of Technology (Current Ara)
2008
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Christchurch Polytechnic Institution of Technology (Current Ara)
2012 - 2024
Night classes at Dunedin School of Art
in life drawing, photography darkroom, prints and ceramic
2017
Graduate Diploma of Visual Art, (Distinctions)
Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand
2019
Bachelor Honus of Visual Art
Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand
Diploma in English Language
Christchurch Polytechnic Institution of Technology (Current Ara)
2008
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Christchurch Polytechnic Institution of Technology (Current Ara)
2012 - 2024
Night classes at Dunedin School of Art
in life drawing, photography darkroom, prints and ceramic
2017
Graduate Diploma of Visual Art, (Distinctions)
Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand
2019
Bachelor Honus of Visual Art
Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand