Zoie Lam exhibition invites visitors into Zlism, the illustrator and designer’s playful, colorful universe on display at agnès b. in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Zoie Lam (林雅儀) worked in fashion design for more than 10 years before she decided to launch her own label and return to drawing full time. She created Zlism as a private, joyful world of characters and landscapes that she now reproduces across paintings, murals, ceramics, and object design.
Sporting short blond hair and distinctive tattoos, Lam looks every inch the fashion insider, yet the scenes she paints are whimsical and childlike. Against utopian natural backdrops, her characters set off on little journeys that invite viewers into a vivid palette of color.
We visited Lam’s studio in Tsuen Wan, where she walked us through the spaces she has shaped from canvas into a working, domestic gallery and workshop.
“Zlism contains the things I love.”
Stepping into Lam’s compact studio prompts an audible reaction. The space is planted with lush potted greenery, shelves hold toys and models, and paint tubes fill a cabinet. Lam built the tall workbench and partition walls herself from wood, and behind the divider is a small area where she throws clay in a kiln and shapes ceramics.
Lam formed the word Zlism by taking the Z and L from her name and adding ISM. She describes Zlism as a planet where she can place everything she loves: nature, odd little toylike creatures, and new characters she invents as she goes. “It is not a real place, but I can create what I want anytime,” she said.
Lam said she relishes the freedom of making surreal images and that the main aim is to make people feel happy. She picked up a small oil painting that features one of her characters named Tiutiu, who Lam calls an elder resident of Zlism. “In some ways he is me,” she said. “When I create or run workshops I want people to find their own inner planet. Everyone’s will be different and unique.”
“If my work heals or helps someone, that is enough.”
Color is central to Lam’s practice. Rather than follow seasonal trends she builds a personal palette, choosing pigments she believes shape immediate moods. Whether she works on a large mural or a small canvas, she layers bright hues so the first impression aims for joy and comfort.
Lam said she enjoys painting large works because they make people pause and improve public spaces. “Even if people are rushing, seeing this can give a small moment of happiness,” she said. Her murals and public installations aim to offer brief respite in Hong Kong’s fast rhythm.
Lam also experiments across media. She added a kiln and a wheel to her studio so she can make ceramics, and she sews plush versions of her characters by hand. “The satisfaction comes from trying new things and seeing how different media interact,” she said. Her practice moves between flat and three dimensional work to explore unpredictable outcomes.
“My art and action can be shared with the community and help people.”
Lam regularly runs community workshops and has taught people from marginalized groups to draw. She said one exhibition organizer suggested donating part of her sales to the Hong Kong Cancer Foundation, which inspired her to find ways to contribute with limited resources. “I realized my art and my time could benefit others,” she said.
Lam recalled a student at a YMCA program who slipped her a note thanking Lam for helping him express himself through painting. The small gesture moved her. “When you invest time in others you do get something back,” she said. She also said those personal exchanges feed her creative practice.
Zoie Lam exhibition and the new multimedia show
This April Lam opened a multimedia show in collaboration with agnès b. titled “Star Guide, Imagined Voyage.” The presentation brings together nearly 20 works including paintings, wooden installations, ceramics, and wall stickers, and six of the paintings are new.
Lam said the show traces how she began reconnecting with personal creation and how that impulse moved outward from Hong Kong to other places. Visitors follow Tiutiu on a short, exploratory journey that mirrors Lam’s own evolution as an artist.
The exhibition also features limited items designed by Lam that are sold to raise funds for a local volunteer group that rescues stray dogs, a cause Lam supports as a pet owner. The label agnès b. confirmed the show runs through May 1. The store is located at agnès b. RUE DE MARSEILLE flagship shop, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, shops G26 G28 and 119.
Lam said she values opportunities to bring illustration into traditional museum and gallery contexts. About six months ago she was invited by the Hong Kong Museum of Art to create illustrations for an educational booklet for the exhibition “Miro and the Everyday Poem,” including augmented reality elements that interact with the master painter’s surreal motifs. She described working alongside that legacy as a rare and meaningful experience.
Lam believes illustration in Hong Kong is moving in a positive direction and that audiences and institutions are more willing to show local talent. “I hope my work will reach museums and similar places,” she said.
Lam said visual communication extends beyond words and that images, video, and illustration can release inner feelings and offer comfort. “If people take something away from my work, even a small feeling of calm, that is enough,” she said.
Lam’s volunteer workshops, which paused during the pandemic, are restarting this year. She described the prospect with visible excitement and said teaching and making work for public spaces has helped her see how accessible small moments of happiness can be.
Exhibition details
agnès b. Star Guide, Imagined Voyage, Zoie Lam multimedia exhibition
Date: On view through May 1
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Location: agnès b. RUE DE MARSEILLE flagship shop, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (shops G26 G28 and 119)
Executive Producer: Angus Mok
Producer: Mimi Kong
Interview and text: Ruby Yiu
Video editor: Fai Wong
Videographers: Kason Tam, Fai Wong, Alvin Kong
Photographer: Kit Chu
Designer: Michael Choi
Special thanks: Zoie Lam, agnès b.
