Huy Lam at the Grimsby Public Art Gallery: Yield

Marking Huy Lam’s first major solo exhibition in a public art gallery, Yield, explores material-based practice, wellness culture, and photographic theory. Primarily utilizing collage and sculpture, 2d and 3d forms oscillate and intertwine, developing a narrative framework informed by the artist’s photography background, material resourcefulness, malleability, and meditation practice. Those acquainted with meditation or Buddhist theory may be familiar with the term equanimity, which can be defined as a balanced mental state that is not necessarily easily achieved and typically requires mindful practice. Though there are several definitions, it can refer to an openness and acceptance; a calmness or equilibrium; and is generally understood to embody a balanced reaction or emotional stability. This equanimical methodology can be found throughout Lam’s practice as he strives to imbue and approach works with softness and responsiveness as opposed to rigid preconceptions, letting the materials guide him. The title of the exhibition calls on Lam’s childhood memories and a phrase often repeated by his mother in Chinese to exercise restraint and humility in various contextual situations of emotional valence. The closest English translation, ‘Yield,’ embodies this sentiment, and can likewise be applied to Lam’s practice as a temporal instinct when pursuing new lines of aesthetic inquiry – satiating creative curiosity.