Curatorial Statement Jiya Lim — Post-Vanitas Era Jiya Lim works with ceramics not as an end object, but as a material condition through which events unfold. Her practice extends clay into ritualized actions, narrative art films, and serialized visual structures, forming a cohesive system rather than isolated works. These actions are not staged performances but procedural acts whose primary existence is fixed through moving image. By releasing these works first through networked platforms rather than institutional spaces, Lim repositions dissemination as part of the artwork’s structure. Under the term Post-Vanitas Era , she proposes an aesthetic movement that shifts vanitas from the contemplation of death toward processes of endurance, transformation, and becoming. Written for curatorial and institutional contexts. Archived February 2026. #PostVanitasEra #PostVanitas #CuratorialStatement #ContemporaryArt #ArtTheory #AestheticTheory #ArtDiscourse #AfterVanitas #BeyondMement...

  POST-VANITAS ERA — MANIFESTO (Declaration) This text is not an explanation. It is a declaration. It does not request interpretation. It does not seek agreement. I declare the Post-Vanitas Era. Vanitas once taught humanity to contemplate death through symbols of decay. In this century, such contemplation has exhausted itself. Death no longer needs to be remembered. Survival does. Post-Vanitas is not an image. Not a style. Not a decorative motif. It is a condition in which destruction is no longer the endpoint, but the material through which endurance becomes visible. In this era, objects are not completed forms. They are witnesses. Ceramics are not vessels of function, but sites where time presses, fractures, settles, and remains. What matters is not what is made, but what withstands passage. The work does not end at the object. It unfolds through action, sediment, circulation, retrieval, and sound— fixed not as spectacle, but as evidence. ...

  When Did Art History Become Explainable? The question we open today is this: When did art history become something that must be explainable? This question is not neutral. It is already a critique, and a declaration of position. Art did not originally demand explanation. At the very least, explanation was not a prerequisite for its existence. Explanation came later— it was not a passport that allowed a work to exist. At some point, however, we began to ask different questions in front of artworks. Why is it important? What does it say? Where does it belong? These questions appear harmless, yet they share a single assumption: that the work must be explainable. The moment art history becomes an explainable system, the artwork shifts from an event to a document. Experience is no longer a site of thought, but is reduced to information. This transformation was not sudden. After the war, art multiplied. Its forms, media, and claims expanded rapidly, and language wa...

  Post-Vanitas Era (2025) — Google AI Overview Archive Archived date: January 30, 2026 (KST) Search query: “post vanitas era movement” Source: Google AI Overview Captured location: Busan, South Korea Archived Description “The ‘Post-Vanitas Era’ is a 2025 artistic and philosophical movement founded by Jiya Lim in Busan, transitioning from ‘Memento Mori’ (remember death) to ‘Memento Vivere’ (remember to live). It represents a shift from mourning and vanity toward sincerity, dignity, and resurrection, emphasizing purposeful engagement with life in a post-modern, luxury-conscious world.” Key Aspects (as recorded) Founder & Context Founded by Jiya Lim under Maison Philosophe , Busan, 2025. Philosophy — “Memento Vivere” A pivot from traditional vanitas themes of mortality toward intentional, meaningful living. Distinction from Traditional Vanitas While 17th-century vanitas emphasized decay and futility, Post-Vanitas reframes these symbols as testimony — sea...

  Post-Vanitas Era (2025) — Google AI Overview Archive Date archived:  February 1, 2026 (KST) Search query: “post vanitas era” Source: Google AI Overview Captured location: Busan, South Korea Archived Record “The ‘Post-Vanitas Era’ is a contemporary philosophical and artistic movement founded by Jiya Lim in Busan in 2025, moving beyond traditional memento mori (remember death) toward memento vivere (remember to live). It emphasizes sincerity, dignity, and a ‘resurrection’ of meaning over vanity, functioning as a ‘Luxurism’ movement rather than merely an art style.” Key Aspects (as recorded by Google AI Overview) Philosophy A shift from mourning the fleeting nature of life to celebrating existence through Memento Vivere , emphasizing sincerity, dignity, and purposeful living. Movement Foundation Coined by Jiya Lim under Maison Philosophe , Busan, 2025, as a movement of conscious, purposeful, and humble artistic creation. Contrast with Traditional Vanitas ...

  Post-Vanitas Era (2025) — Google AI Overview Archive Date archived: January 30, 2026 (KST) Search query: “post vanitas era” Source: Google AI Overview Captured location: Busan, South Korea Archived Record “The ‘Post-Vanitas Era’ is a contemporary philosophical and artistic movement established by Jiya Lim in Busan in 2025. Moving beyond the traditional 17th-century vanitas focus on death (memento mori), this era emphasizes ‘Memento Vivere’ (remember to live). It promotes a shift toward sincerity, dignity, and a positive, purposeful existence.” Key Aspects (as recorded by Google AI Overview) Philosophy Rooted in the concept of Luxurism, marking a transition from a 17th-century focus on the fleeting nature of life to a 21st-century emphasis on resurrection and purposeful living. Artistic Expression Moves away from art made merely for prestige, toward works understood as testimony — sealed with meaning. Founder Founded by Jiya Lim under Maison Philosophe , B...

  Why I Walk With Black-Glaze Sculpture and Tea Rituals Together I move through one world twice: once through black-glaze sculpture , and once through the ritual of making tea . These two practices may appear to diverge, but they return to the same inquiry at different registers: After collapse, by what means can a human life become operative again? Black-glaze sculpture is not a condensed question. It is the ground that precedes the question. I work in black glaze from the beginning. Black glaze is not a surface applied after ruin; it is an originating state. Collapse does not produce black glaze. Collapse only discloses it. Kintsugi is not ornament after damage. It is a second order—an ensuing discipline—that can operate only upon that ground. In my work, black glaze is closest to human nature: a given substrate, present before breaking, present after breaking, present even after a return. Its essence does not change. Yet nature does not operate in a single way. ...