An artist based in Singapore

Dorothy Lim-Chew

Dorothy’s love for calligraphy began in 2015 when her sister gifted her a calligraphy pen set. Wanting to practice with fellow enthusiasts, she tried to rally others who were beginners like her. What started out as a handy moniker became “Beginners’ Table”, a calligraphy-sharing platform that offered free-to-public calligraphy ‘tasters’’ by other seasoned calligraphers. Since then, the Beginners’ Table has hosted hundreds of participants at bi-monthly sharing sessions, raised funds and given out scholarships, staged a calligraphy exhibition in Singapore, and conducted cross-border calligraphy exchanges with calligraphers in nearby countries.

When the world ground to a halt in 2020 with Covid lockdowns, Dorothy spearheaded an online exhibition, Grateful, which saw over 100 pieces of art that featured what calligraphers were grateful for in that challenging season.

In 2021, Dorothy set in motion The Art of Letters Mentoring Initiative, a movement where established artists would mentor two or more mentees to guide them towards artistic breakthrough in producing calligraphy art. In the midst of this endeavour, she was diagnosed with cancer in July. This made her even more determined to carry on the mentoring initiative, and, with the generous and hearty support of the mentors, she pressed on.

Dorothy included herself in the mentoring program as a mentee under Eleanor Winters, to better understand the experience, while also using art-making as a therapeutic process. The pieces that Dorothy exhibits in the Symbiosis exhibition 2022 arose from this challenging and intense season in her life in which her faith, her family and community were her mainstay.

Dorothy is founder of The Art of Letters.com, and continues to practice calligraphy and to build community together with her calligraphy friends.

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