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Gwenessa Lam

Associate Professor

Availability:

Education:

MFA
New York University
BFA
University of British Columbia

Bio

Gwenessa Lam has exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art, the Queens Museum of Art, Galerie de L'Université du Québec à Montréal, the Glenbow Museum, the Alberta Biennial and more. She was artist-in-residence at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Banff Centre for the Arts and others. Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the B.C. Arts Council and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Gwenessa has taught at New York University, the University of British Columbia and the Alberta University of the Arts.

Websites:

Research Interests

Working across drawing and painting, Gwenessa’s research considers how ancient objects have the potential to disrupt cultural categorizations. Her research takes interest in understanding the psychological and social implications when these artifacts are damaged, lost or misidentified. The historical fragment acts as a framework to examine broken accounts of the past, personal and collective. She undoes the logic of a comprehensive historical account, creating visual patterns and new ancestral lineages that enliven the fragment and their unexpected fractures. What unfolds is a speculative and shifting account that forefronts the fragment as a record of rupture and erasure.

Thesis Supervision

Supervised Programs:

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Praxis PRAX 300 27/SP

Description

This third year course offers the opportunity for students to develop their practice within the discourse of contemporary and historical art discourse. Students will acquire a critical vocabulary for understanding their own trajectories in dialogue with the context and history of art, through group critiques, discussions of pertinent writings, and individual and group presentations of research on a variety of subjects related to their area of practice. A Dialogues course is an investigation of artistic practice premised on a student's own interest to situate their work in a broader discourse and professional realm. They will learn skills related to completing projects, making presentations, speaking in public, leading discussions, writing, and integrating research and knowledge within their creative practice. Weekly meetings will allow for critiques of self-directed studio projects, discussion of assigned readings, and presentations of research projects.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Visual Arts Studio VAST 410 27/SP

Description

This course provides students with the opportunity to propose and develop a self-directed body of work. Sections are often offered in a team-taught model with an interdisciplinary focus. Through artistic production, research, discussions, writing and critique, students are expected to increase their understanding of the content and context of their process and production as well as their knowledge of contemporary art. Students meet regularly for group meetings as well as in one-to-one tutorials with their instructor(s). Critiques and discussions complement studio production where considerable independent time and maturity is expected.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Visual Arts Studio VAST 320 26/FA

Description

This course provides students with the opportunity to propose and develop a self-directed body of work. Sections are taught with a thematic focus. Through artistic production, research, discussions, writing and critique, students are expected to increase their understanding of the content and context of their process and production as well as their knowledge of contemporary art. Students meet regularly for group meetings as well as in one-to-one tutorials with their instructor(s). Critiques and discussions complement studio production where considerable independent time and maturity is expected.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Visual Arts Studio VAST 420 26/FA

Description

This course provides students with the opportunity to propose and develop a self-directed body of work. Sections are taught with a thematic focus. Through artistic production, research, discussions, writing and critique, students are expected to increase their understanding of the content and context of their process and production as well as their knowledge of contemporary art. Students meet regularly for group meetings as well as in one-to-one tutorials with their instructor(s). Critiques and discussions complement studio production where considerable independent time and maturity is expected.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Drawing DRWG 308 26/FA

Description

Building upon Drawing Studio: Materials and Techniques (DRWG 208) and/or Drawing Studio: Process and Transformation (DRWG 218), this course focuses on further development of drawing techniques and facilitates the students' refinement of their chosen subject matter through visual and text-based research. This includes helping students to develop their own personal approach to drawing, to experiment with drawing mediums, mark-making, collage, scale, gesture, etc., in a comprehensive manner. Students will be introduced to historical, current, and emergent paradigms of drawing production. The course requires students to contextualize their formal and conceptual interests while also encouraging experimentation. Students can expect to produce large quantities of work with in-process feedback and workshops, culminating in a dynamic body of work.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.