Sean Lam
35W x 45H cm
Marker on Wood
As a child who grew up in a kampung in Sembawang, Sean recalled that the elders in the village community always gathered in the evenings under the communal tree to discuss topics of the day. Anyone could comfortably express themselves during such moments of “lepak”, be it fact or fiction. The children were often fascinated by the folklore stories which the adults told as entertainment, such as those of Pontianaks, which refers to vengeful female spirits in Malay or Indonesian mythology.
As Sean developed the concept of this stool during the Halloween period, he was inspired by the kampung spirit intended for the stool which reminded him of folklore stories and Pontianaks. The contrasting manga art featuring the protagonist on the face of the stool, with her features hidden beneath the stool as an element of surprise, represents the recurring theme of contrasts between relaxation and dark humour which is often found in the artist’s work. Instead of another lovely stool, he challenges the audience to imbue the spirit of lepak (the sense of relaxed enjoyment in Malay) and relax on this Pontianak stool.
ARTIST PROFILE
NAFA Alumnus
Sean Lam is the international award winning artist of the graphic novel, 'Judith: Captive to Conqueror' at Angoulême Christian Comics Festival in France. He is best known for his two part graphic novel adaption of New York Times bestselling Larry Niven's sci-fi novel Ringworld and a 32-page Pope Benedict manga comic where 300,000 copies were distributed for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid. Sean is also the artist for The Curseborn Saga manga series, and holds yearly book signing for each new volume at the Los Angeles Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con.
He hopes to bring changes to the art scene in Singapore and to hopefully attract and trigger the creativity in children in comic and manga art, saying “Manga can deliver emotions faithfully and carry a vivid message to readers, evoking a sense of reality in the story. Young children are usually fascinated by the art when they pick up the book. I hope that my artwork can help them understand the emotional background of the set and characters, and bring them into that world to learn about the wonderful stories of faith and goodwill.
PROCESS
