Lap-See Lam is the artist making 3D exhibitions into digital dreamscapes

Lap-See Lam is thoughtful, conscious, and almost careful when answering questions. Ever present, this acute awareness of her surroundings is something that permeates her work. Her artistic practice delves into a world of 3D scanning and virtual reality, employing cutting-edge technology to create environments from her past.

Her formative years spent in her parents’ Chinese restaurant on Södermalm in Stockholm, she later employed a 3D scanner to document Chinese restaurants, practically creating a blueprint for her own experiences, her own memory. Without knowing the exact result of all this digital material, it became the foundation for her work. Creating immersive experiences with the assistance of VR technology, 3D printing and animation, Lam takes the viewer on a journey that sits somewhere between reality and fiction. To accompany these virtual reality experiences Lam relies heavily on producing complex narratives; stories that are approaching small plays, guiding you through these immersive VR journeys.

With no brush or paint at hand, she sometimes finds it difficult to call herself an artist. Discussing the aspects of her practice, how it so often depends upon technology, Lam is aware of the importance of tech in her work, but it’s not something she is excited by.

“I’m not a 3D animator or a programmer or you know, very ‘into’ technology,” Lam insists. “I’m an artist. I would describe myself as that, even though at times it feels strange to say.”

Often collaborating with friends and family, who have assisted in writing the stories you listen to when experiencing her work, they also act as the voice-overs throughout. Ultimately creating the magnetic poetry that is felt in each of her immersive encounters. Lam’s family is incredibly important to her, during the past year and half this became all the more evident.

As many of us had to forgo visiting with our inner circles, especially grandparents, Lam’s ‘pod’ consisted of just her extended family. They all live on the same block, actually in the same building in Stockholm, centred around the former location of their Chinese restaurant.

“It’s very unusual to live near your parents as a Swede, but I really like that sense of community and family; to be close, especially during Covid.“

Lam’s work centres around collective memory of places and people that no longer exist. Creating connections with the past is very important, however it’s the act of the searching for these connections, the stories, that she finds most stimulating. “I think perhaps it’s more like archeology. Say you have a site, and you know that you’re searching for something in that ground, and you start to dig. You think you are looking for a bone, a skeleton or whatever that could be hidden there, but what is interesting are the actual layers that you have to cut through to find what you think you’re after.”

Lam’s feelings of displacement were formed by her childhood in Stockholm, which in turn serve her investigations in her work. “Very early on I felt displaced because my parents were running a restaurant in one part of the city, but they wanted us to be in what they perceived as the best school, in a completely other part of town. We were one of perhaps three or four kids who had an immigrant background at the school,” she explains. “So, quite early on I felt a sense of displacement.”

Although the feeling of otherness was gradually assuaged, the impact on Lam’s approach to her work and the subject matter remained. The experience of feeling ‘on the outside’ led Lam down a path that included studying art in high school, and for a time foraying into fashion. She worked as a stylists’ assistant for several years, finally applying to art school. First a foundation year at Ida Loven School and then acceptance to the prestigious Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm.

“I take so much from my experience of growing up in Stockholm, my identity is very much intertwined with the symbolism and thematics of my upbringing.” The Chinese restaurant that features in her work ‘The Phantom Banquet’, is an establishment that is outside of actual China but carries a kind of symbolism with it – the visual aspect of Cantonese culture and the diaspora, she says. “It is all about putting all of these themes into the Swedish context.”

After graduating from the Royal Academy things moved quickly. Lam was awarded the coveted Maria Bonnier Dahlin Foundation prize for young artists and her work was presented at Performa; the infamous performance exhibition in New York.

Lam has a very tempered approach to the recognition she has garnered, something she carries with her since acceptance to art school.

“The initial feeling was what a huge accomplishment it would be when you’re accepted to the Academy. Then, the reality of art school sets in; how do I navigate this environment?” It took Lam almost three years to settle in, with the support from staff and her peers making the difference.

“Just being able to ask for guidance from the professors and teachers was such a resource. I found myself in the 3D lab having no previous knowledge, which can be kind of scary. I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve, and the head of the lab was so supportive, she really eased me into working with this type of technology.’

Lam describes an incredibly positive environment that was free, and collaborative. “Of course, the work I made there was important, but the long-lasting friendships stuck with me. Friends who are artists give great advice and perspective,” she says. “Even during lock-down, when we’ve all been so isolated, I’ve had the opportunity to call and catch up with people, and ask for advice in regard to my upcoming projects.”

At the start of 2021 Lam received the Dagens Nyheter’s (Sweden’s largest daily newspaper) prestigious culture prize and has recently been nominated for the global Future Generation Art Prize, by the Pinchuck Art Centre in Kiev, Ukraine. The notoriety, especially at such an early stage in an artists’ career can be daunting.

“I was so honored to be nominated for the DN culture prize. To be included in a group with incredible writers and filmmakers – I was very surprised when I won. The impact of literature or film is much more widespread compared to how many people might have seen or been impacted by my work. It is wonderful that visual-art was recognised,” she says.

The nomination for the Pinchuck Prize, up to now the most international of her accolades, offers the opportunity for her to participate in a large group exhibition in Kiev, with the other 20 nominees.

“To be in a group with all of these talented artists feels incredible,” she says. The exhibition will travel to Venice and be presented during the Venice Biennale (2022). “The idea that my work will be able to touch more people, and hopefully reach other members of the Cantonese diaspora in the Ukraine or Italy would be amazing.’

A new work is being developed for Lam’s upcoming solo exhibition at Bonniers Konsthall, in Stockholm. There Lam will use technology along with the concept of memory as a tool, employing different methods of expression to take one initial idea to many different places, pushing the boundary with each new version of the artwork she authors.

“Considering my work explores the wider concept of memory, my own memory is actually quite bad, like a goldfish, which is probably why my artistic practice is the way it is.”

When asked to share a memory from the past few months, Lam concentrates and then laughs. ‘I hadn’t heard from my grandmother for a whole week, which worried me. Finally, I got hold of her. She had just received the vaccine and had spent the entire week playing mahjong eight hours a day with her friends whom she hadn’t seen for over a year. My grandmother explained that she just hadn’t had the time to call – that made me so happy. It was definitely the best memory from the past year.”

Lam's exhibition Dreamers 'Quay, Dreamers' Key is on at Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm until April 3, 2022