° 1973

Lives in HK, born in Fujian Province (CN).

Jaffa Lam: Woman Workers’ Association

Chinese visual artist Jaffa Lam (b. 1973) sought her dignity and self-confidence in an extracurricular drawing class in her early teenage years. Later, she studied Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, and a PhD in Art Education. Working with mixed media, she creates site-specific sculptures and installations from recycled materials such as crate wood, old furniture, and recycled fabric. At the same time, she looks into local culture, history, society, and current events. Exploring topics like the city’s loss of craftsmanship and the regenerative art-making cycle, she represents the thoughts and views of ordinary people through dialogical installations. 

Jaffa Lam’s practice intentionally centres on collaborating with locals. That intentionality and her use of found and recycled materials manifests sculptures and installations addressing themes of labour, identity, and collectivity. She has worked closely with the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association since 2009. They are a women’s collective of former garment factory workers. At her first European solo exhibition, she also provided commentary on Hong Kong’s social and political changes. Giving discarded clothes and abandoned trolleys an artistic second life is how she expresses her thoughts.

Lam began filming her practice to expand the reach and impact of her social research. In the documentary series Inner Worlds, she can be seen sewing recycled umbrella fabric with the workers. ‘I try to talk to the workers and understand what their lives are like. I want to know why they’re here and how they work’. Jaffa Lam’s practice rejuvenates the workers and the material, all the while manifesting something intangible – community.

Jaffa Lam is again collaborating with the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association in the run-up to her Art Basel exhibition. She also acknowledges the depth of personalism that keeps this intimate community alive: ‘It’s like a family industry. I always eat with them at their homes. We become friends and then work together. And come what may, we’ll throw ourselves into the fray for the sake of new exhibitions.’

 

HW