Lap-See Lam draws on experiences of the Cantonese diaspora, delving into migratory movement, generational loss, speculative history, and the otherization of cultural symbols through video installations, sculptures, and live performances. Her works blend contemporary techniques with traditional storytelling forms and references, taking inspiration from shadow play puppetry and Cantonese opera, as well as the aesthetics of Western Chinese restaurants. Her work creates mythical imaginations of Chinoiserie as defined by imperialist history, while reflecting on her personal family history of migration, to convey the complexities of cultural heritage.
Lam was recently the recipient of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award 2025. In 2021, she was the winner of Dagens Nyheter Culture Prize and was shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize. Lam also received the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Foundation Grant in 2017.
Lam presented a Gesamtkunstwerk at the Nordic Countries Pavilion during the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, in collaboration with Kholod Hawash and Tze Yeung Ho. Her recent solo exhibitions include Moderna Museet (Stockholm, 2025 & 2018), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, 2025), The Power Plant (Toronto, 2024) (Vega Foundation), Studio Voltaire (London, 2024), Buffalo AKG Art Museum (New York, 2023), Swiss Institute (New York, 2023), PORTIKUS (Frankfurt, 2023), Lidköping Konsthall (Lidköping, 2023), Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm, 2022 & 2018), and Trondheim Kunstmuseum (2021). She has taken part in group exhibitions at Sammlung Philara (Düsseldorf, 2024), KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art (Berlin, 2022), Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong, 2022), Power Station of Art (Shanghai, 2021), PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, 2021), Uppsala Konstmuseum (Uppsala, 2020), Performa 19 (New York, 2019), Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris, 2019), Luleå Biennial (2018), Kópavogur Art Museum (Kópavogur, 2018), and Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen, 2017).
Lam currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
