Artist Jon Lam to showcase work in Echuca

By Ivy Jensen

Nov 10, 2020

WITH an interest in travelling and the human condition, artist Jon Lam is never short of inspiration.

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And never short of awards.

Over the past six years, Jon has collected more than 35 awards for his watercolours, oils and acrylics, from best in shows to acquisitive competitions.

The first year he entered the Rochester Mural Festival in 2016 he won the $5000 first prize for his dramatic piece Changes, which centred on the Australian landscape.

The award-winning artist made it to the finals the subsequent three years, which he hopes to do again next year.

Jon is now displaying some of his paintings at the Riverine Herald office after his solo exhibition was postponed to May next year.

“Because of my background in graphics, I paint in all sorts of mediums,” he said.

“My style varies from abstract to realism.”

Jon was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents before moving to Australia in 1970.

Starting out as a graphic designer, Jon was designing games and pinball machines when he saw an advertisement for a Bachelor of Education studentship for experienced artists to teach art.

For the next 20 years, he taught art and graphics to high school students in Melbourne.

“I retired at 55 and decided to pick up my brushes again,” Jon said.

Almost 15 years later, the 69-year-old has created hundreds of paintings, exhibited his works in Melbourne and Echuca, runs painting classes for art societies and gives private tuition as well as running workshops throughout the year.

“When I initially started and started showing my work, a lot of gallery owners expected my work to look very Asian and say, ‘but this is Australian’,” Jon said.

“What they don’t realise is I’ve stayed here for so long and I studied here, and so my work is very westernised.”

Before he met his wife - Echuca artist Jen Rankin - in 2001, he didn’t focus too much on regional Victoria or Australian scenes.

“Malaysia was an English colony, so when I was growing up, our books came from England so when we talk countryside, we imagine English country scenes,” Jon said.

“Until I met Jen and started going between Melbourne and Echuca, that’s when I started appreciating rural countryside and farms.

“Now I paint a lot of scenery from the farm, like sheds and silos.”

In the past five years, Jon estimates he has worked on more than 570 paintings.

“My favourite (medium) now is watercolour followed by oil,” he said.

“I really like modernist impressionist.

“Because of my interest in human condition and human consciousness, I try to tie that into my work as well, so my later work will reflect a lot of religion or people’s belief and that sort of stuff.

“Malaysia is very multicultural, so I was exposed to a lot of different culture, custom and religion, including Christianity.

“So, with my current work, a lot of them come from this symbolism from different cultures such as Yin and Yang, Hinduism Om symbols and the samsara wheel for Buddhism, so all this kind of iconography images appear in my later paintings.”

Holding exhibitions at Alton Gallery and The Foundry Arts Space, Jon’s next showcase will be at Echuca’s Customs House in May 2021.

Alongside Jen’s lino prints, Jon will exhibit about 50 of his latest artworks.

In the meantime, you can see some of Jon’s creations at the Riv office in Percy St.

All works are available for sale.