Auld Lang Syne

Thank you to my alma mater Columbia University for featuring me again yesterday, this time in their Instagram stories! From when I was named one of 2023’s Culture Shifters by HuffPost:

Now, on to more sneak peeks at the artwork that will be in LAMINATOR Vol. 1 zine (pre-order the inaugural issue here!):

A dreamy photograph called Through the looking glass 4 by Klinta Kalneja in Riga, Latvia:

An incredible acrylic painting called The Streets Are Ours by Chicago artist Keelan McMorrow:

He says:

“As a painter, I’ve always tended to view my work as a sort of alchemy—from pigment to paint, concept to realization, there’s always some kind of transformation afoot. But the thing about painting a picture is that getting another person to look at it is pretty much the whole point, and that’s where the last bit of magic occurs. Whether or not someone else’s heart gets the message, their brain has gotten a piece of that I’ve been feeling, and if I’m lucky it’ll turn into something else, because it isn’t just mine anymore.”

Bonus: Keelan’s take on AI “artists”:

An opportunity for Chicagoans: DCASE’s 2024 Individual Artists Program Grant application is now open! I’m a past awardee; both times I applied, I was selected to receive the grant!: The first was for my ongoing large-scale interactive public art and mapping project, Dreams of a City*; the second was when I conceived of SLAYSIAN**. More details for IAP here. The deadline is January 16, 2024, 5pm CST.

*(Recent interviews about that passion project!: WGN Morning News (video, recorded live), WBEZ (audio, recorded live), Chicago Reader (article).)

**(The exhibition I created and curated celebrating Asian American artists in Chicago and the Midwest, which finally happened in person in 2021! You can continue to enjoy the original virtual version from 2020 here and read about SLAYSIAN in press coverage (including feature articles, reviews, and interviews with the artists and myself) from 2020 here.)

And some fun stuff as we close out 2023:

• When I was a kid I made these little mint candy snowmen from scratch (following a recipe from American Girl Magazine) and my mom still has them in the fridge and showed ‘em to me for the first time since [maybe] the ‘00s. And now I’m showing them to you.
• A silly little anniversary: This past fall marked 20(!) years of me having the same hair “style” / a middle part. I don’t have any photos of me from autumn 2003 on hand, so here’s a photo from summer 2004, along with some context for the location.
• An art-related anniversary: Throwback to 10(!) years ago when I was invited to curate the exhibition for Sixty Inches from Center x Autotelic’s birthday bash at what was then called Flats Studio, which was a massive old former bank building, and before that it was a former vaudeville theater, in Uptown. (Look up 1050 W. Wilson Ave.—that was the venue! And now it’s about to be the new home for Double Door.)

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone!

Cuernos

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been selected to exhibit my 2020 photo Torres del Paine and my 2015 photo Fall in Love—both shot on my iPhone 5s—in Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery’s 12th Annual Landscapes Art Exhibition, and I’m one of the Top Winning Artists in the Photography & Digital Category! Thank you, LST! View the show here and view more of my mobile photography here.

Torres del Paine (early January 2020)

Sold: My 2016 sketches Of Dragons and Assassin II! Thank you so much to the collector for your support! (It’s like the universe balanced things out; that day I hired a fellow artist to be an attendant for my upcoming art fair booth, and then less than an hour later I received a notification about this sale!) If anyone else is interested in giving my art a new home, more of my handmade illustrations/drawings and paintings are available for purchase here.

Of Dragons (2016)

Assassin II (2016)

Here’s a little video I took before sending them off. (Not pictured: How nerve-wracking slowly tearing out Assassin II from my sketchbook without ripping it was.)

And: The updated COVID-19 booster (the one that finally helps protect against omicron) is available in the Chicago area! I scheduled my appointment at Walgreens for next week. Get your shots!

Mind’s Eye

I was interviewed by Lover’s Eye Press as the featured artist of the lit mag’s second issue! Thank you to founding editor-in-chief Eniko Deptuch Vághy (so much love to you!) and the LEP team; what an honor and pleasure.

What an introduction!

In our conversation I discuss my projects (including Dreams of a City, I CAN DO THAT, and SLAYSIAN), my influences, and my love of interactive art, and I reveal that I wrote high fantasy novels as a tween for fun (didn’t we all?). You can read my interview here. (And pictured above is a sketch I drew a few years ago.)

Back to SLAYSIAN 2.0:

Sold at the opening last week and via Artists on the Lam’s online shop last night: Baigujing prints by Vivian Le; and sold through the online shop last night: Vivian’s other new piece in SLAYSIAN 2.0, Harvey! (I love its frame so much.) Congratulations to Vivian and thank you to the collectors for your support!

And another work that sold at the opening: Thank U, Next by Nini Hawes! (With another unconventional frame that I absolutely love.) Congrats to Nini and thank you to the buyer!

Collect Nini’s other digital prints (including another new one created for this show) and more art by 22 local Asian American artists here.

Free Agent

Two weeks ago I was invited to speak at the Leonardo LASER Talk “Resilience: From Cells to the Human Experience” via Zoom, and the video is up! If you were unable to attend, you can watch the full talk here. Thank you to organizer Pamela Winfrey and the ASU Leonardo LASER folks and to fellow speakers Carlo Maley and Chris Johnson for a wonderful panel discussion!

The full video is an hour long, so if you don’t have time for that at the moment, here’s a 1-minute clip in which Pam made an insightful observation that one of the unique ways in which I build community is through agency (and my response).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jenny Lam (@artistsonthelam)

And in case you missed the previous post, I have an open call for artists for my next [virtual!] group show!

Steam

This year, I’m celebrating the 10th anniversary of Artists on the Lam! (It was on June 6, 2011, that I published my first blog post here!) Get excited for all sorts of fun stuff (online, of course). Including… DECAHEDRON. Stay tuned!

This week: I’m proud to announce that I’ve been invited to speak at the Leonardo LASER Talk “Resilience: From Cells to the Human Experience” this Friday (February 26), 6-7pm CST, on Zoom. A program that combines art and science—my kind of event. Attend if you’re free!

Another announcement: The launch of my Shop! Purchase original handmade drawings and paintings by yours truly. (In the past I handled art sales via email, which I can still do. Choose whichever method is more convenient for you!) I also have a Redbubble shop where you can purchase prints (and tons of other products like stickers, mugs, and more) of my original photography (all taken on my iPhone 5s, which has been hanging on for dear life).

Fun stuff in the form of short clips: In addition to other social media channels, I’m on TikTok now too; say hello if you’re over there! And here’s a voicemail message I left Sixty Inches from Center that they turned into an entire animated video; it’s amazing and I love it.

And if you’d like to hear a magical little story: Here’s a short thread about a coyote at my door.

You Are Stardust

  

You Are Stardust by Jenny Lam, acrylic paint on wood, 8.5 x 6.375 x .125 in.

Resilient. Loved. Those were the first words that came to mind when presented with You Are Beautiful’s blank “You Are __________” board for their Virtual Winter Exhibition.

DIY board from You Are Beautiful.

But then, as I was playing around with my paints (in case I was a little rusty—I hadn’t painted in over a decade! what better way to get back into it than such an inspiring prompt), something else came to me.

I was testing out the colors of my new paints, painted this miniature
while playing around, and fell in love. November 2, 2020.

What both humbles and empowers me, makes me feel small in the best way and makes me feel part of something bigger than all of us, something greater than all of this, is space, the stars. Always has been that way—refer to this page of my diary from when I was 13.

A diary entry from Spring 2001, during landing
(hence the shaky handwriting) of a flight home from D.C.

“We are made of star-stuff,” Carl Sagan said. “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” That fact has always comforted me, and I think we all need to be reminded of it in these times.

You are stardust. 

This photo is the most accurate when it comes to the painting's colors.
(Taken with a Samsung Galaxy; all others iPhone 5s.)

 

The virtual opening is December 12 at YAB HQ, where my piece will be available for purchase. [12/12 update: The show is live!] [12/13 update: My work has been sold!]

(Painted this a couple weeks ago, mailed it to You Are Beautiful last Monday, and can’t wait to see what others have created! Thank you, YAB Sticker, for the quarantine project, and for lighting a fire in me to make my own art again.)

P.S. For more about the creative process, development of an idea, and evolution of this painting, check out the bottom of this page.

And I’m here to remind you

Reunion 2019, Columbia University in the City of New York.

As the Starlight Celebration went on into the night and all milestone reunion years (every 5 years all the way up to ’49) danced under the benevolent gaze of Alma Mater, right after I took the photo above and descended from Low I found myself sitting on the Steps with my good friend Andrew (who, until reunion, I last hung out with 7 years ago in Beijing) and had a deep conversation about—literally—our mortality; love; loss; longing to leave a legacy and pass on our stories; how we’ve reached an age where we’ve made certain decisions we can’t ever come back from and must make peace with that; Andrew saying the question he asks himself now is “What do I want to get out of life?”, which I know will stick with me; how we don’t want certain feelings to ever fade away… all the good stuff, and it was so Columbia, and I loved it, and I love my friends I made here so much. He and I talked about how we don’t remember too much about what we learned in class (well for me I did internalize everything I learned freshman year, which is when I knocked out most of the Core, but after that… yeah sorry Columbia), but to us this place has always been and always will be about the people.

Honey, I'm home.
Columbia University, my 10-year reunion.

At my 5-year reunion it felt like I never left, like I had just come back from a long summer break. At 10 years though, enough time has passed to make it seem very, very strange. It’s all so familiar, yet—as I told Andrew—it feels dreamlike. Columbia, post-graduation, has always had a dreamlike quality to me, but when I wandered around campus that night I felt like a ghost. Like I was looking at everything through incorrect prescription contact lenses (which is highly probable). I lived here in another lifetime, something I did notice years back.

Who else from Columbia remembers the school-only
Facebook group from 2005 called "I had a crush on
Alexander Hamilton" because I did when I was 16.

And the next morning my throat was sore from scream-singing (while intermittently raising my wine cup) along to “You Oughta Know” which was inexplicably the last song the live band played.

"In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen."
Columbia Reunion during the Starlight Celebration portion of the night.

(But then there’s something so perfect about a crowd of dressed up Columbia alumni singing Alanis Morissette at the tops of our lungs at midnight.)

Using Riverside Church as a guide, spot Columbia, turquoise copper roof
Lego block oasis. Goodbye again. Miss all you nerds already.

To Boldly Go

New Frontiers, the graphic novel anthology I have a story and artwork in, is officially going to press! Thank you again to the editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow for the opportunity and for all your hard work putting this together!

L.A. friends: There will be a special event on July 15 at the Japanese American National Museum, where they’ll be formally unveiling the book! The Asian American ComiCon’s Summit on Art, Action, and the Future, 12-5pm.

Here. Have a Chicago photo as I transition to Chicago
things. (TBT to 2 weeks ago / my parents' anniversary.)

Sunday’s Dreams of a City postcard? The sender’s dream came true! Read her story here. More mapped Chicago dreams—posted daily—can be viewed here.

Vote

LEXICON made it to the final round of the Chicago Reader’s #BestOfChi voting, thanks to you! Now, vote for LEXICON (the artist statement-less interactive show I created and curated featuring 47 talented artists from diverse backgrounds in the 10,000 sq. ft. exhibition space of the Zhou B Art Center) for “Best Gallery Exhibit”! (Click the Arts & Culture category.) Thank you! [Update: Voting has now closed!]

  

(Important tip: I’m unable to view the ballot in Chrome so I assume many of you might come across the same problem; if that happens, try your phone instead, or, if you have Windows 10, use Microsoft Edge on desktop. Update: Basically, I think you need to disable ad blockers for the Reader.)

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend! (Mine consisted of this loveliness, this life-long tradition, spotting this helpful reminder in the form of street art, and—of course—this.)

Chicago house music blasted in the background
of this photo. Lurie Garden, Millennium Park.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival, everyone!

Can you tell me how to get

Artists, take charge of your own historical narrative! Submit your ephemera to the Chicago Artist Files at the Harold Washington Library; refer to the last paragraph on this page for details. I started a file of my own at Sixty Inches From Center’s Chicago Archives + Artists Festival this past Sunday, which was, well, amazing. (Here’s another [completely unrelated] reason why Sunday ruled.)

And:

As I’d mentioned in this caption, although I was born in Chicago, I’m actually ESL; Cantonese is technically my first language and I picked up Toishanese listening to my maternal grandpa. I taught myself English as a baby by watching Sesame Street on WTTW, the local PBS station. PBS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, one of about a dozen agencies (along with the NEA and NEH) that will be eliminated under the proposed Trump Budget. These programs literally change lives. In my case, they start them. #Resist.

New Frontiers

An original story of mine (including artwork by me) will be published in New Frontiers, an original graphic novel anthology inspired by George Takei by the team behind the Asian American superhero anthology Secret Identities! Thank you so much to the editors, Jeff Yang and Keith Chow (founder of The Nerds of Color)!

Image courtesy of SIUniverse.

(Fun fact: When I was 16, I founded a free English tutoring program for immigrant youth in Chicago’s Chinatown called New Horizons. So I’d like to think this is fate.)

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month indeed.

The back of Saturday’s daily Dreams of a City postcard has always been, on a purely visual level, one of my favorites. Thanks to Mary Iwanicki who helped leave this one. To read what was written on the front, visit @DreamsOfACity, where I’ve been sharing one mapped dream a day, every day. [Keep] follow[ing] along!

Postcard 1009 back: January 2013, Komoda (2559 W. Chicago).

And a reminder: If you haven’t done so already, I’d love it if you could take a couple minutes to nominate LEXICON for “Best Gallery Exhibit” in the Chicago Reader’s annual #BestOfChi poll! (More details and tips about the process in the previous post.) Thank you! [Update: Thanks to you, LEXICON is a finalist! Now, time to vote!]

Power

Happy New Year! I was interviewed for the political documentary Transition to Power, and my episode’s up! In collaboration with Sixty Inches From Center, On The Real Film’s web series “dives into the aftermath of the election through the eyes of artists.” Thank you, again, for asking me to participate, Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan! (Special cameo by my “Rebel Scum” sweater.)

(How do y’all like my new Facebook cover photo?)

(And, uh, related to something I said in the video, this happened.)

As mentioned in the previous post, there will be an Anti-Inauguration Screening of the film (including new episodes and unreleased footage) on January 20, 7-9pm, on the 5th floor of Mana Contemporary Chicago in Pilsen. Snacks and beverages will be available, and the event is free and open to the public. (Then go protest!)

[Update: Apparently OTRF made a print of the transcript!

All profits from sales of this poster will go to the good cause
and organization of your choice.

From an amazing night with amazing people at the Action Session.]

Another freebie for locals: The Art Institute of Chicago’s Free Winter Weekdays for Illinois residents begin today. Also, free year-round museum admission has been extended to Chicago teens ages 14-17.

Lastly, the response to “Hope,” my year in review and words for the future, has been overwhelming. Thank you, everyone. Keep reading, keep sharing, and keep commenting!

When all other lights go out

It’s hard, but I’m trying my best to remind myself of my favorite quote (which I was asked for in this interview I did over the summer, part of a series that is now more important than ever):

It’s preceded by Frodo putting to words how I’ve been feeling: “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Gandalf responds, “So do I, and all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.”

Mourn. Then: Organize. Mobilize. Fight. For me (a POC, a child of immigrants, a Millennial, and a woman), for all marginalized groups (I see you, I love you, and you matter), and for the future of our country and the world. This is only the beginning.

--

(Here’s what you can do. Also, I loved the protests here in Chicago and in other major cities throughout the nation Wednesday night. This and this are on Saturday. [Update: There’s also a mass march against Trump and racism on Saturday the 19th and a protest in Millennium Park the following day.] Feel free to leave a comment with anything else you’ve come across, or if you just need to talk. I’m here.)

Alignment

I’ve been invited to speak at the next 20x2 Chicago! Thank you, Andrew Huff! Save the date for Saturday, October 22, 6-8pm, at Quenchers.

I’m back from a trip to Greece (photos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr), just in time for Expo Art Week. But that’s not all that’s happening.

Chicagohenge.

Today is:

• Of course, the first day of Expo Chicago, returning for its milestone fifth year! (I’ll be at the VIP preview tonight.) In honor of the event, Throwback Thursday to one of my favorite chats with the fair’s President and Director, Tony Karman.

• Your last chance to see Luftwerk’s solarise: a sea of all colors, a site-specific series of immersive light installations at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

• The autumnal equinox and Chicagohenge (pictured above)! Twice a year, the rising and setting sun lines up perfectly with the city’s east-west street grid. The first day of fall is one of those times.

• Hobbit Day (and Tolkien Week)! Here’s another throwback: Me in Hobbiton, New Zealand, and when I quoted Gandalf in an interview.

Quite the day, September 22.

And a reminder: I’ve been invited to speak on a panel at the inaugural Startup Art Fair during Expo Chicago! So honored. The conversation’s this Sunday, 1pm, at MileNorth Hotel. Hope to see you there!

Poetry in Motion

Here they are! Your interpretations and meanings (and even poems!) you wrote on Post-it notes at LEXICON, as well as all the artists’ original statements, which, as you know, were not revealed during the interactive exhibition’s entire run. Some of the statements were created specifically for the show and have never been seen before until now. Take a look; it’s the perfect source for Monday motivation!

Guess who. (Left by graffiti artist Solo RM.)

In other news: I’ve been verified on Twitter! Thank you!

And here’s:

• A status that seemed to resonate. Ah, microaggressions.

• A doodle (and caption) encompassing my latest obsessions.

Happy August / Leo season! (Adrienne Glover, one of my LEXICON artists, to me: “You’re the most low-key Leo ever. What’s your rising sign?”)

Pond

Sold Love & Oil by Aisha Yousaf and my own sketches, Night Nurse, Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herder, Force, and AKA, to Michael Zhou! (First time I put my own art into a show I curated too. [Even though those of you who came to the exhibition know that I hid my drawings in a corner.]) Thank you, Mike!

(And this was last Wednesday’s sale.)

LEXICON has come down (I was in the space yesterday staring at empty walls), but it’ll live on online; stay tuned for photos of your Post-it notes, as well as the reveal of the artists’ original statements!

Until then: Here, have a photo by Gerard Rodriguez of me in front of Capacity #2 by Brianna Lynn Hernandez Baurichter, charcoal on paper. (Yes, I wore an Éowyn-slapping-the-Witch-King-of-Angmar-a-la-Batman-with-Robin shirt at last week’s artist talks and demos.)

Glazed

LEXICON’s one of Time Out Chicago’s top 10 gallery exhibitions to see this month [because I wrote the post, muahaha]. The interactive art show opens in two weeks!

Happy National Donut Day (the Stan’s Donuts and Coffee staff cracked up when they noticed my Inigo Montoya / Simpsons mashup t-shirt) and have a great weekend!

Value

LEXICON’s been featured on Amplified Art Network! Thank you, Sergio Gomez!

Here’s artwork sneak peek #7!

Olivia Shih, Value Building Blocks, wood and Masonite.

And in personal art news: Ming-Na Wen herself retweeted and reposted my Mulan / Game of Thrones mashup doodle. I cannot I can’t I just (And the reason why the true Mother of Dragons was on my mind in the first place was because I commended BD Wong for going off on racists at his Twitter and he favorited my tweet. The past week has been filled with a lot of screaming, basically.)