| Wai Kit Lam’s work is primarily concerned with the relationship of individuals to their immediate environment and questions the extent to which we are molded by our surroundings or whether it is, in fact, our surroundings that mold us. She uses large-format photography to present two apparently dissociated images on one sheet of aluminum. One image usually portrays an object—perhaps a lone coffee cup, a detail of a lace curtain, shadows of leaves on pavement or a forgotten corner of a room—while the other image is a self-portrait of the artist reflected in whatever mirror-like object appears within a given scene—a mirror, a shop window and even an elevator roof. | 
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Divided Minds
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Wai Kit Lam’s work is primarily concerned with the relationship of individuals to their immediate environment and questions the extent to which we are molded by our surroundings or whether it is, in fact, our surroundings that mold us. She uses large-format photography to present two apparently dissociated images on one sheet of aluminum. One image usually portrays an object—perhaps a lone coffee cup, a detail of a lace curtain, shadows of leaves on pavement or a forgotten corner of a room—while the other image is a self-portrait of the artist reflected in whatever mirror-like object appears within a given scene—a mirror, a shop window and even an elevator roof. These self-portraits are always taken from a wide-angle so that the viewer can see the artist within the larger environment in which she finds herself: at a carrousel ride in Paris, on a train in Italy or perhaps at a hairdresser in Japan.
What makes these works so interesting, though, is the juxtaposition between the two images and the tension that this contrast incites between that which is dynamic and that which is static. The viewer is left to determine whether these are indeed random associations or whether they, conversely, possess hidden meanings, which the viewer is left to uncover. The artist’s aim is to reconstruct the images and daily experiences with which we are all familiar, but also to present them from an alternate perspective, and in such a way that one is forced to reexamine and reevaluate them.
Alongside her large photographs, Lam is also debuting two of her recent video and sound installations. Again presented in split-screen format, the videos mix the moving images of two entirely unrelated episodes set to a soundtrack that is similarly irrelevant in terms of the images unfolding. Reminiscent of the works of the seminal artist Bill Viola, the artist’s video installations are both haunting and captivatingly poetic.
Born in 1966 in Hong Kong, Lam currently lives and works in Hong Kong, China, and Ferrara, Italy. In 2003, she graduated with an MFA from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her media includes photography, video art, sound and mixed media. Since 1996, she has held several solo and group exhibitions in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Italy and Canada.
