In her carved and rhythmic wooden sculptures of the 1960–1970s, Kim Lim evoked both Eastern spirituality and the forms of Constantin Brancusi, ideas she further explored in her Ladder Series of etchings. In this work, three ladders have been cut in half vertically and their outer rails flipped to the inside. The rhythmic pattering of the rungs is firmly balanced through mathematical ratios: each rung measures half the height of the space to the next rung; thus if each ladder were re-united, its negative spaces would form perfect squares. As the eye moves back and forth between the ladder sets, the empty space between them begins to exude a powerful presence, similar to voids in Daoist and Chan (Zen) ink painting. The regularity, geometric precision, and seriality of her forms recall the Minimalist sculptures of Donald Judd, in particular his famous “stacks”, but Lim’s organic mark-making and earthy ink tones—ochre and warm blacks—hearken back to Brancusi’s wood carvings.
–When We Were Young: Rethinking Abstraction From The University At Albany Art Collections (1967-Present)