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Intimate Portrait
Intimate Portrait“When I look at things, there is more observation on the city and people, and in the process many associated ideas come to me. I am fascinated by the way plants grow and where people place them in the community, reflective of urban planning and people’s planting habits. Some plants are left to survive on their own while others are placed indoors or outdoors to form a variety of landscapes.”
Lam Hau-yi
What are some of the common themes and art mediums in your work?
I have a habit of exploring life through observation, painting and contemplation, with buildings and plants as recurrent themes. By micro-observing highly familiar images, I try to redefine perspectives and inject interesting meaning to seemingly trivial objects. My creations are mainly gongbi (fine-brush) painting with elements of ceramics, through which I wish to depict a sense of exquisiteness and refinement, and to convey the beauty and power of stillness.
Since becoming an artist, do you observe any changes in how you perceive things?
When I look at things, there is more observation on the city and people, and in the process many associated ideas come to me. I am fascinated by the way plants grow and where people place them in the community, reflective of urban planning and people’s planting habits. Some plants are left to survive on their own while others are placed indoors or outdoors to form a variety of landscapes. I married my design background with various elements drawn from cities and plants to create a series of “potted plants in the city”.
You are from Hong Kong but have studied arts abroad, do you see similarities and differences in terms of artistic mood and atmosphere in these places?
In 2013, I studied as an exchange student at the Academy of Fine Art in Taiwan’s Tunghai University. The spacious university campus seemed a good place for artistic creatives. Perhaps due to the way they were educated and the environment they grew up in, I would say that Taiwanese students are more focused on technique, and there is a direct simplicity to their creative ideas which are often inspired by delightful things they found around them. It is totally different from the artistic atmosphere in Hong Kong, driven by the fast pace of life, and the need to be jack of all trades, open minded, more thoughtful and flexible – including take short cuts sometimes. Sometimes I have to remind myself to go back to basics, to contemplate what is profound and fundamental in artistic creation.
Are there projects or plans in the pipeline?
JCCAC is an excellent platform providing various development and showcase opportunities to artists. I hope to gradually expand the works I could showcase, from ceramic lifestyle products to proper works for art exhibition. Thanks to support by Professor Mayching Kao Arts Development Fund, I plan to organise a small solo exhibition later this year, as a retrospective of my work so far and to lay the foundation for my future creations.
I also feel lucky to be participating in the JCCAC booth at this year’s Affordable Art Fair, which I see as stepping stone for exhibiting my work and an opportunity for my artistic self-review. On show will be my ceramic work Framing in the City, depicting in clay texture the window of a building with natural view of the cityscape.
As a resident artist, what do you think about JCCAC?
I applied for art student/graduate tenancy with a friend back in 2017 and offered ceramic workshops in the studio. Now as a resident artist, I mainly use the studio for painting but with a bit of ceramics thrown in, and as a place to showcase my creations. JCCAC provides an affordable and comfortable space where I could explore different artistic approaches and put many of my ideas into practice. It allows me to use my skills and knowledge to make a living as an artist.
