was born in Seoul, South Korea where he studied Visual Communication Design at the Induk Institute of Design. He then moved to New York City to pursue his love of fashion where he attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and immediately began freelancing for several leading clothing brands as a designer. His talent became readily apparent. He moved up quickly to the position of Design Director for several prominent fashion companies, most notably with Herve Leger from 2009 to 2018. At HL, he created and developed their runway lines and was responsible for overseeing fourteen New York Fashion Week runway shows. He was instrumental in transforming the image of the classic bandage dress, moving it into a vibrant new era of sexy sophistication and his fashion creations have been seen on scores of celebrities and featured on the covers of magazines all over the world.
His love for fabrication and innovation eventually acted as a catalyst to expand his vision to alternative artistic mediums. He transitioned to working as a free-lance fashion consultant, giving him the time to find and explore other paths to satisfy his creative urges and allowing him to use his expertise in construction and design to develop new techniques and ideas for his sculptural art.
Much of the inspiration for his work centers around the use of discarded and re-used materials. His current series of sculptures are all made from recycled corrugated cardboard boxes that are carefully hand-cut, layered to create a stepped effect, and sometimes painted. This allows him to create beautiful ornamental standing objects as well as hanging 3-dimensional reliefs that showcase his attention to detail and his love of texture. By using common materials in unorthodox ways, he hopes to reshape our views of their elemental substance and purpose and aims to convert the mundane into art that not only appeals to the eye, but also encourages awareness of our environmental sustainability.
Sean Lim
M.A.Bailey
originally hails from the East Coast of the U.S., where he grew up along the cliffs of the Palisades overlooking the Hudson River and New York City. There he discovered his love for culture and the fine arts and his inspiration to study theatre and performance at Rutgers University and The Mason Gross School of the Arts.
After a long career working as an actor and singer in every imaginable medium - from theatre, TV, and film to video games, radio spots and music videos - his interests and desires for other avenues of expression continued to grow and eventually brought him to working with art that could be created by hand. He began by training in stained glass with a local artisan and has never since stopped exploring and expanding his points of view. His passion for new tangible expression flourishes, and he now devotes his time to working in his studio and exploring his creative processes through his unique sculptures.
His earliest 3-dimensional pieces took their cue from the traditional Japanese method of wood burning - yakisugi - a blackening of the wood that reveals clean, distinct lines and an inherent textural beauty. Combining that with his glass-making skills allowed for a unique take on sculptural relief and a furthered honing of his woodworking skills. Although his love for stained glass and for his particular use of it in unconventional ways hasn’t waned, the fragility of glass as a medium eventually led him to explore the use of other materials. This has brought him to his current series of works - utilizing resin and recycled plastics combined with exotic woods - to create geometric sculptures that get their inspiration from historical art forms like traditional stained glass and totem carving as well as the myriad geometric configurations and array of colors found throughout nature.
Together for over twenty years, Sean and M.A. operate out of their home studio in Texas.