Born in Hong Kong, 1993, Jessie has embarked on a journey that transcends borders, mediums, and conventions. Through practice that seamlessly blends drawings, paintings, soundscapes, voiceover, light, and ready-made objects, she ventures into the uncharted interplay between self-care, personal identity, shared memories and relational dynamics that remain unnoticed within contemporary art. Central to her practice are drawings and objects with first-person narratives that are reminiscent of still-life paintings, as if archives sewing up the gaps between the raw essence of existence and life’s realities. Delving into the crevices of human feelings, she confronts the nuances of power relations that permeate not only within social and political systems but also within intimate personal relationships. With a juxtaposition of displaced rhythms and spontaneous improvisation, her installations invite the audiences to engage with both intimacy and society's underlying unease.
Having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018 and achieving a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Frank Mohr Institute in 2021, Jessie’s artistic journey has been a diverse one. Her trajectory from Hong Kong to the Netherlands and now the United Kingdom has brought the intricate narratives of immigration into her artistic realm. By infusing a sensitive and poetic imagination in materials that addresses a melancholic displacement, her ongoing research explores and seeks the notion and memory of "home" abstracted by the unprecedented post-colonial conditions, where tragic changes and political trauma came along. Settling in Manchester where people shuffle around, her work stands as a dialectic exploration, piecing together the fragments of her own relocation that evokes a new paradigm of immigrant experiences.
By cutting herself into many little parts, Jessie’s artistic narrative is woven from her myriad fragments, as she has traversed roles as an independent artist, art-space initiator, part-time research-lecturer, and curator, alongside more ordinary roles such as cleaning jobs, waitressing and front of house in art institutions. While tangoing with a vacuum cleaner to make space for the dust to come, she has realised that art-making remains her truest calling. Criticising and questioning her aspiration for representation in sterile white cube spaces, she moves on to know what she wants to attain. As she continues her creative journey, she carves out space not only for her artistic practice but also for the unwanted, the unspoken, and the overlooked. With a relentless pursuit of unearthing the unheard voices of discarded materials and forging unconventional relationships, her interdisciplinary practice has become a testament to the power of intimacy, humour, and transience.
MFA in Painting (Cum Laude), Hanze University of Applied Science, Netherlands
BA in Arts in Fine Arts (Second-Upper Class), Chinese University of Hong Kong
Associate Degree in Legal Studies, (Year 1, transitioned to university), HKU Space Community College, Hong Kong
Museum in Residence, Bierumer School 28 Nov 2020-5 Mar 2021
Be Friend OK? 24 May-3 Jun 2023
Mirco Gallery, Air Gallery, Manchester, UK
It Has to Be Apart/ It Has to Be Alone 6-29 Jan 2023
ACO, Hong Kong
Friends of Friends of Friends of (upcoming) Jan 2024
DAS ESSZIMMER, Bonn, Germany
Drifting Fragments on the Sea Shore(upcoming) 4-31 Nov 2023
Inter-Island Festival 2023, duo exhibition with Joanne Law Sze Wing, Hong Kong
Whatever Is Yours Will Come to You (upcoming) 27-29 Oct 2023
TRYST, Torrance Art Museum Advocates, Del Amo Crossing, and the City of Torrance, Los Angelas
Alternative & Chosen Families 12-25 Jun 2023
Squish at WORM Slash, NL
Art and Culture Day by HongKongers 25 Mar 2023
Salford Hongkongers CIC, Lancashire, UK
Colour Matters 11-15 Jan 2023
Getfun Garden, Pheonix Art Space, Brighton, UK
Expo at Noodle Shed Dec 2022-Apr 2023
Noodle Shed, Bolten, UK
May the Art World Tear Us Apart Til We Meet Again 12-27 Mar 2022
Bierumer School, Bierum, NL
Momentje Alstublieft, I'm Lost for Words 18 Dec 2021
Pip Expo, Den Haag, NL
Tentoonstelling Hendrik de Vriesstipendium en Wildvang 11 Dec 2021-8 Jan2022
Kunstpunt, CBK, Groningen, NL
Once Again in One's Hand 3-17 Dec 2021
Mamamini, Struggling Art Space, Groningen, NL
Lucht Project 27 Sep-17 Oct 2021
Kunstpunt, Groningen, NL
Detour/Swerve 19-24 Jun 2021
Frank Mohr Institute, Sugar Fabrik, Groningen, NL
LANDESCAPE1823 PROJECT: A Clockwork Lai Chi 28 May-17 Jun 2021
LANDESCAPE1823, JCCAC, HK
Art Away Art Fair 23-24 Apr, 2021
Hereweg 72, Groningen, NL
Let's Not Go back to Normal, Jessie Tam &Tianyi Zheng 28 Nov 2020-5 Mar 2021
de Bierumerschool, Bierum, NL
#Eemsdelta-expo 9-11 Dec 2020
Gronings Vuur, café Het Anker, Delfzijl, NL
Sleepless Remote, Jessie Tam & Yang-Ha 4-19 Jul 2020
jungganjijeom, Seoul, Korea
Bakery for Nobody, Joint project with Reon Cordova 6-13 Jun 2020
Het Resort,Groningen, NL
RE:Present 28 Feb 2020
Frank Mohr Institute, Koepelzaal, Groningen, NL
Wild and Fire Wheel 28 Sep-9 Oct 2018
Emerging Artist Sextet Exhibition, a.m.space, HK
Happily Ever After II 7 Jul-25 Aug 2018
Blindspot Gallery, HK
Forever Young Forever Weeping, The Arts of CUHK 2018 26 May – 24 Jun, 2018
Art Museum, CUHK, HK
Reading Report -- am Cheuk Lam and Zheng Tianyi 1-12 Jan 2018
Ch'ien Mu Library, New Asia College, CUHK
Happily Ever After 26 May-24 Jun 2017
Cheng Ming Building, New Asia College, CUHK, HK
MATLAB & Guests. Drawing & Painting: (Trans)media Experiments Dec 2017
Kunstraum Gallery, Switzerland
Dust Rat Run Nov 2017
Kwun Tong, HK
Wild Art Festival Oct 2017
FAAS Spaceless, CUHK, HK
+ ;! []. We Are Lost In.*This﹍ ×High-tech Game° ° ° ×. ﹏ \, May-Jun 2017
Cheng Ming Building, CUHK, HK
The Whole Does Not Exist Jan 2017
Hui Gallery, CUHK, HK
Kick-off at SpreadZineFest 11 Sep 2021
Het resort, Groningen, NL
Brieven aan de Eems, performance of Paula Biemans 28 Aug 2021
Wonderful Gromms, Delfzijl (participating performer)
Collective Wandering 17 Sep 2021
Vrijplaats Voor Verbeelding, Bierum
Circle Doing Words 8 Mar 2020
Groningen, Netherlands
Sojlo Nights #2 22 Feb 2020
Lust, Groningen, Netherlands (participating performer)
Does it Have a Name: Context 31 Oct 2019
ARTisBOOK Shop, Groningen, the Netherlands
Wild Art Festival 2020: Art Guerrilla Anytime May 2020
Wild Art Festival, Green Wave Art, HK
Body II – Being-in-the-World 26 May-24 Jun 2017
The Art of CUHK 2017 Undergraduate Exhibition, CUHK, Hong Kong
Above Julian’s digital scream 9 Sep 2022
Radiometric projects, at the.creativeplayground, Ultrecht, NL
HIGH RES Worlds II/ IV Gok Dou LIVE 25-29 May 2022
Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Art Central, HK
Short Film Screening Night 22 Sep 2020
The Creative Playground, Utrecht, NL
Migration 9 Nov 2020
Negative Space, NS social media platform, Hong Kong
It Has to Be Apart\ It Has to Be Alone Exhibition booklets (self-published) Jan 2023
May the Art World Tear Us Apart Til We Meet Again (self-published) Mar 2022
Encountering, Capturing, Chasing of Little Moments I Gonna Lose It (self-published) May 2021
Vol.2-3 Hot Glue Cold Pie , myew_official, Hong Kong (participating writer) Sep-Oct 2021
‘Things will Work Out Tomorrow- A Growing Collection of StepBackForward.art', 2021
Stepbackforward, Hong Kong (participating artist)
Curator: Belinda Hak and Gisanne Hendriks, "The exhibition RE: Present #2, 2020", 2020
Groningen, NL (participating artist)
Curating “Whatever Is Yours Will Come to You”, 27-29 Oct 2023
TRYST, international art fair for art initiatives,
Torrance Art Museum Advocates, Del Amo Crossing, and the City of Torrance, Los Angelas
Co-Curating “Everybody S_truggles at S_truggling Art Space” 10-14 May 2023
SUPERMARKET2023, Stockholm Independent Art Fair, Sweden
Curating “May the Art World Tear Us Apart Til We Meet Again” 12-27 Mar 2022
de bierumerschool, Bierum, NL
Assisting Once Again in One’s Hand 3-17 Mar 2022
Mamamini, Groningen, NL
Co-organising Een Momentje Alstublieft, I’m Lost for Words 18 Mar 2021
Pip Expo, Den Haag, NL
Co-organising When Herbs Come Together How Bitter We Can Go 24-25 Oct2022
TRAININGS at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, NL
Participating Zinecamp 6 Nov 2021
WORM, Rotterdam, NL
Participating Spreadzinefest 25-26 Sep 2021
Het Resort, Groningen, NL
GUEST LECTURER 26 Feb 2023
Interdisciplinary lecture by Jaffa Lam, Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (Year 1) Hong Kong Art School - Hong Kong
-Collaborated with Jaffa Lam in an interdisciplinary lesson for Year 1 Bachelor students in Fine Arts
-Explored with students how painting and drawing intervene with installation with a montage of misplaced rhythm and improvisation
GUEST SPEAKER 11 Dec 2022
"Huddle, British Art Show x Camp", Camp Membership, Manchester, UK
RESEARCHER-LECTURER Mar-Jul 2022
Minerva Art Academcy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences - Groningen, NL
- Designed and planned an elective course “The Fragments of the Performing selves” to share art and materiality practices in the Asian context
- Assisted students’ ongoing research and process with studio visits and individual guidance
GUEST SPEAKER 17 Jun 2022
"Local Art Scene", Anne van Lierop by TASAWAR Curatorial fellowship, Groningen, NL
GUEST SPEAKER
Online Talk: Dialogue with young artist Jessie Tam & Tianyi Zheng: Studying abroad and art practice, 21 Mar 2021
organised by Nagative Space HK
Tentoonstelling artist in residence, Shane Waltener Sep-Dec 2019
Action Building Group, Groningen, NL
Life in the Walled Village Dec 2015-Mar 2016
Jockey Club Community Arts Biennale 2015, Hong Kong
Met the village elders and listened and collect their stories work with artists to create feature landmarks of village life in Lung Yeuk Tau, HK
CREATIVE GATHERING WORKSHOP ASSISTANT Oct-Nov 2022
Manchester Art Gallery-UK
- Collaborated with workshop moderator and involved participants from different cultural background in art making
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE (admission committee member) Sep 2020 - Aug 2021
Frank Mohr Institute, Hanze University of Applied Sciences - Groningen, NL
- Assited in student interviews and applications, and respond to enquiries
V-ARTIVIST ASSISTANT Sep 2017 - Feb 2018
Icare programme x V-Artivist- HK
- Collaborated with residents influenced under the urban renewal project in events, activities and community screening planning
ELDERLY HOUSE WORKSHOP MODERATOR Feb 2017
Iliveitall - HK
-Developed and facilitated Iliveitall pinhole camera workshop with elders in Senior Housing in Hong Kong
WEBSITE EDITOR Sep 2015 - Aug 2016
The Art of CUHK 2016 annual exhibition - HK
-Communicated with artists and website developers for materials collection and website operation; edited website documentation of exhibition
ART in HOSPITAL WORKSHOP ASSISTANT Mar 2014
-Involved patients in hospital as artists and delivered art workshops as a holistic care
QUEER RIGHT TRAINEE, ACTION Q 2014-2015
- Initiated activities and assisted in promotional materials to promote the right of LGBTQ+ and pride parade
VOLUNTEER TEACHER Feb-Oct 2014
Principal Chan’s Free Tutorial World- HK
- Provided one-on-one tutorial classes to primary students from underpriviledged family
MEMBER OF FAMPLUS 2 2013-2014
Family Planning Association of Hong Kong - HK
- Organised the Youth Sex Culture Festival and promote a more open attitude towards sexuality and sex education
Front of House Mar 2023-present
Baity Palestanian Kitchen-Manchester - UK
Front of House- Visitor Experience Jul 2023-present
Factory International-Manchester - UK
- Greet visitors and assist visitors with questions
- Maintain exhibits and ensure daily operation of the exhibits and safety of visitors
Docent May 2019
Le French May- HK
- Greet visitors, give directions and explain exhibits to visitors
- Offered tours to individuals or groups and assist visitors with questions
Workshop facilitator
Apr-May 2019
Hong Kong Youth Federation, Jockey Club Ping Shek Youth S.P.O.T., HK
MEDIA PLANNER Aug 2018 - Feb 2019
Art Map Limited - HK
- Operate website documentation of exhibitions and publications and support the editor with administrative help
- Coordinate with other departments such as sales and advertisement
AMBASSADOR Jun 2018 - Dec 2018
Oil Street Art Space (Oi!) - HK
- Greet visitors, give directions and assist visitors with questions
- Ensure daily operation of the exhibits and safety of visitors
Art Workshop Facilitator
Sep 2017-2018
Yuen Yuen Institute, HK
PERFORMANCE ASSISTANT Jun -Sep 2018
Memorial Rebirth Summer Internship- Habour City-HK
- Assisted artis’s performance and installations
- Greeted visitors, give directions and explain exhibits to visitors
Education
2019-2022
2013-2013
2012-2013
Residency
Solo
Group Exhibition
Performance
Screenings
Publication
Curating and
Connecting
Teaching and
Artist Talk
Volunteer and
Internship
Work Experience