Every resin-based piece from Cherise Lim, founder of Sincerely Cherise, is handmade and inspired by the depth and unpredictability of oceans.
Text by Stephanie Peh
Although the main medium of Sincerely, Cherise is resin, founder Cherise Lim has a love-hate relationship with the material. “Small changes in factors such as temperature, humidity and pigment-to-resin ratio are enough to alter the way the resin moves and eventually cures or solidifies,” says Cherise.
For most makers, uncertainty is a nightmare to work with. However, the inability to completely mould resin is what makes it fascinating. “I love seeing how each piece turns out different from the next, although sometimes this can be frustrating as well when it ends up not looking like what I had hoped it would,” says the 21-year-old who started exploring the material back in 2018 for her ‘A’ level coursework.
Often in search of beauty in the ordinary, Cherise draws inspiration from nature, specifically the ocean. “I love how [the ocean] is both ever-changing yet constant; ever-changing because of its waves, tides, and et cetera, constant because it unfailingly returns to shore and is always there,” she says.
Fittingly, Cherise’s creative process is fluid. Instead of steering her collections in a set direction, she looks at her surroundings and materials on hand for inspiration. “I strongly believe in the fact that there is a lot more than meets the eye to everything we see and encounter in life daily,” she quips.
The meditative element behind Cherise’s pieces stems from her belief in our innate need to slow down and appreciate the quiet things. In a way, the act of creation is as therapeutic for her as it is for the user.
Her recent homeware collection revolves around the theme of islands. “Each ‘island’ is sculpted with clay, and then positioned strategically in each of the trays or dishes before being sealed with resin,” she describes. Like her previous collections, every piece is unique and handmade. Excluding the process of trial-and-error, it takes Cherise two days to one week to create each one. On top of that, the go-getter is also currently a chemistry and biochemistry student in university.
Despite having built a business at a young age, she is not one to rest on her laurels and hopes to explore other mediums and themes in the future. “I hope to bring to attention the fact that there is so much more to everything we see, and that life and beauty exists in all things – we just need to know where to look and to look harder,” she concludes.
Sincerely, Cherise
www.sincerelycherise.com
This article first appeared in Lookbox Living issue 64
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