If you happened to find yourself within the confines of the NEIU library recently, between the 25th of August and the 5th of September, you probably couldn’t help but notice a major transformation had taken place. Siew Lian Lim presented her senior art show, an installation, entitled “Within”. Siew Lian Lim is a Buddhist nun, who attends school here and can be found haunting the Fine Arts building. What made this show particularly exceptional was Ms. Lim’s ability to not just decorate a space, but to breathe new life into it…and breathing was one of the central themes of the installation. As an avid practitioner of meditation, and a clergywoman, Ms. Lim (or, Kong Xin, her Buddhist ordained name) also brought us a message: “We all breathe the same air.” In other words, we are all connected-whether we like it or not. All beings are equal. Therefore, in harming others, you harm yourself, and in helping others, you help yourself.
Kong Xin’s central piece was an installation of impressive magnitude. For this work, she created some 3,000 “noses” out of several different colored clays, each impressed with a leaf. These were stacked and arranged on the floor in order to create both an image of the “Bodhidharma” (the Father of Zen Buddhist meditation, who spent nine years alone in a cave, perfecting his technique and waiting for a disciple), and a circular walking meditation path. Noses and images of the Bodhidharma were the principal subject matter for the rest of her sculptures, which filled the remainder of the lobby-along with some of her teacher, Venerable Chi Chern’s, calligraphy. The show was also littered with Zen musings and inspirational words. It did seem as though for a short time, the air was cleaner and the whole space more alive. To drive her message home even further, Ms. Lim sold her “noses” to interested parties for $5 apiece, to benefit the Chinese earthquake victims. If you missed the show, you can visit her website: www.shikongxin.blogspot.com. Remember, the air you breathe is not just your own.