WorkArt & Culture

Oozing, droopy sculptures that are strangely beautiful by Dan Lam

When Texas-based Vietnamese artist Dan Lam graduated from school, her paintings were challenged as being "too pretty". Instead of rejecting her abilities, she decided to push boundaries to see how far she could "get away with making beautiful things and what happened to beauty when there was too much of it".

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Six brightly coloured sculptural forms with spiky, bumpy textures in shades of red, blue, green and pink displayed on white shelves

Her interest in these concepts developed with her work and she started exploring different avenues and visuals to express those ideas – mainly creating drippy sculptures that are so weird and ugly, they're in fact beautiful. Crafted using polyurethane foam, acrylic paint and epoxy resin, the sculptures are deliberately inviting as well as disturbing. Dan explained: "I look to the body (flesh, skin, foods) and nature (aposematism) for cues. I'm interested in creating these bright, attractive things that begged to be held, but either can't be touched because of the setting, or you can actually touch them, but they're hard and spiky ­ making them not so inviting. They remind me of Ken Price in that quintessentially Californian kind of language, but brought right up to date."

Speaking of her process, Dan said: "I start with the polyurethane foam on top of some kind of armature. I have a loose idea in my mind of the form I want. The nature of the foam is somewhat unpredictable, so a lot of my process is guiding materials and then releasing control to the material and gravity. If the shape calls for it I will manipulate or add textures.

"I will also work in a subtractive way with the shape if I think it needs it needs cleaning up here and there. At this point, I add acrylic paint and occasionally resin, depending on what kind of finish I want. There are usually quite a few layers. Lately I've been mixing it up with each piece, going between matte and gloss."

All words & images courtesy of the artist

Vibrant sculptural form with bright pink bulbous protrusions surrounded by textured turquoise, yellow and magenta surface details
Turquoise sculpture with orange and pink spikes covering its bulbous, organic form, sitting on a white platform
Red and teal sculptural form with dense spiky surface texture and bulbous protrusions by Dan Lam
Spiky sculptural form in red, orange and blue by Dan Lam, made from polyurethane foam and resin with a bulbous head and tapering stem
Spiky spherical sculpture with hot pink bulbous protrusions and a textured surface in shades of teal, coral and yellow by Dan Lam
Sculptural form of turquoise and coral polyurethane foam with dense spike-like protrusions, bent at a sharp angle over a white ledge
Rounded sculptural form covered in densely packed spherical protrusions, graduating in colour from turquoise and yellow to coral pink and orange, with a white highlight at centre
Bright pink and turquoise spiky sculptural form by Dan Lam drooping over a white architectural ledge
Spiky sculptural form with a bulbous red and blue top that tapers into two thin yellow legs, covered entirely in raised cone-shaped protrusions
Colourful sculptural form by Dan Lam with bright yellow and magenta textured surface, deep blue spherical cavities and organic, bulbous shape against a light blue background
Bright cyan and purple spiky sculptural form with undulating surfaces and raised nodule textures by Dan Lam
Bright turquoise sculptural form covered entirely in small spiky protrusions, drooping organically over the edge of a white platform
Pink and grey bulbous sculpture with protruding spheres and spiky dotted texture by Dan Lam
Bright lime green, blue and orange spiky sculptural form with dangling tendrils by Dan Lam, crafted from polyurethane foam and acrylic paint
Colourful sculptural form with spiky protruding dots in blue, yellow, pink and green, featuring darker blue circular voids across its surface, mounted on a wall
Bright pink and cyan spiky sculptural form hanging from a white shelf, crafted from polyurethane foam with textured protrusions throughout
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