Commissioned by National Gallery Singapore for its opening celebrations in 2015, Looming Isles was a large-scale participatory installation that invited visitors to create a collective drawing through weaving.

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The work consisted of nine large tables, each embedded with a grid of nails that formed the structure for the drawing. Visitors were invited to weave and loop colourful materials—including yarn, ribbons, wire and cable ties—around and between the nails. As more people participated, individual lines gradually accumulated, intersecting and overlapping to form dense three-dimensional surfaces across the tables.

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The project extended Hazel Lim’s ongoing interest in weaving, repetition and modular forms, while shifting the act of making from an individual process to a collective one. Rather than beginning with a predetermined image, the work developed through the decisions and gestures of its participants, allowing its composition to change continuously over the course of the event.

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In Looming Isles, weaving becomes a form of drawing in space. Individual lines and actions are brought together through repetition and accumulation, transforming simple materials and gestures into a shared sculptural landscape.

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