Ivan Lam
Ivan Lam (b. 1975) in artist unafraid to push the boundaries of his practice, challenging himself by experimenting with new techniques and media. His pop-inspired practice ranges from silkscreen, printmaking to painting and engages in the exploration of the reality of life in multicultural Malaysia, as well as of more universal issues that uncover the fragility of human life. In his solo exhibition Machines at Wei-Ling Gallery in 2012, the artist presented three monumental works that represented the biblical Trinity – the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit – while at the same time referencing the three main ethnicities coexisting in Malaysia. The glossy paintings depict construction machines against a backdrop of architecture and blue sky. Devoid of human operators, these ‘tools’ reveal the fragility of the human form: our need for machines to realise our ambitions (PDF download). Lam observes: ‘Machines are the shortcomings of men. If we were perfect, they would never have been invented. Machines stand as a symbol of our failures, but [are] presented as our pride and joy.’