An Interview with Pearl Lam and John Lim
In episode fifteen of The Pearl Lam Podcast, gallerist Pearl Lam sits down with botanical designer, John Lim. The pair delve into an interesting discussion about floristry design and other cultural influences.
Pearl Lam (林明珠) and John Lim recently sat down in Singapore to discuss John Lim’s blooming floral career. During the episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, Pearl Lam learns that John Lim is the founder of This Humid House, a botanical design studio that is committed to developing a language expressed through plants and flowers.
This humid house has shaken up the floristry industry in Singapore with its non-conformist work. The studio has made a name for itself with designs created for luxury brands such as Kenzo, Cartier, Franck Muller and many others.
During the episode, Pearl Lam (林明珠) and John delve into the connection between floristry design and contemporary art. Pearl Lam learns that John Lim began his career as an architect and attributes the role of plants in influencing his unexpected career change.
Speaking about his career change, John Lim told Pearl Lam (林明珠) that he was “so grateful for my education in architecture because architecture teaches you to design.”
John Lim continued, “architecture teaches you to design at the highest level possible and it give you confidence. What I do every day with plants and flowers is still essentially design.”
Pearl Lam then asked John Lim, “how did this transformation happen?”
John Lim explained to Pearl Lam that he has always liked plants and flowers. “When I was visiting America for my brother’s wedding, he asked me to organise his floral designs.”
“I wanted to represent my brother and tell his story through flowers. I wrote up a very extensive brief which included vegetables and gave it to American florists. They all thought I was a psycho, and no one wanted to do this project, John Lim told Pearl Lam.”
John Lim continued, “so, I got together a bunch of friends and embarked upon the project myself. It looked like an ammeter DIY project, but it was the start of something important to me.”
“I really enjoyed myself and that’s when I discovered that there was something there that I wanted to explore,” he told Pearl Lam.
Pearl Lam then asked John Lim if this was the reason why he switched careers.
“Fundamentally, there is a way for plants and flowers to give meaning to people’s important life events,” John Lim explained to Pearl Lam.
Written by: The Producer, The Pearl Lam Podcast
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