Neon Parc acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung as the Traditional Owners and sovereign custodians of the Country on which we operate. We pay our deepest respects to their Elders past and present. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
Born 1991, Sarawak, Malaysia. Lives and works in Berlin.
Spencer Lai is an artist interested in the impact of consumerism, cultural objects, and ephemera on identity. Working across multiple forms and formats, including sculpture, installation, curation, writing, drawing, Lai’s practice produces associative meaning from a range of accumulated materials that are worked into assemblages, expanded paintings and installations.
His work frequently engages with cultural detritus, reconfiguring found materials and imagery, reflecting on the intersections of value, personhood, and the unconscious. His practice embraces both playfulness and unease, exploring the duality of beauty and abjection within contemporary and traditional cultures.
Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.
‘MAY Art Fair’, Neon Parc, Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand
‘Impressions’, Mackintosh Lane, London
2024
‘Modes’, Neon Parc, Melbourne
2023
‘Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God: strained tremors of life rise from dark billows of muteness as a modern wind soars beneath engineered wings’, Neon Parc, Naarm/Melbourne
‘He has left us alone but sometimes shafts of light sometimes grace the corner of our rooms: Lotus Eaters’, Asbestos, Naarm/Melbourne
2022
‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, New York
‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc, Naarm/Melbourne
‘A Patience Game’ (with Jürgen Baumann), Holden Garage, Berlin
‘Up the hill in my city shoes’ (with Allan Rand), Air-BnB location, Naarm/Melbourne
2021
‘buddhaminefield.’, Ge Hinnom Small Group Love, London
‘Bitch Biscuit’ (with Victoria Todorov), Bossy’s Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
2018
‘Air becomes metallic scented as anger is emitted, a bounding animal halts as blood in crimson unfurls in still waterhole’, Kimberly-Klark, New York
‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins — it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god’s hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Naarm/Melbourne
‘hushed pupils’, Fort Delta, Naarm/Melbourne
2017
‘Contaminant, figures’, Fort Delta, Naarm/Melbourne
2016
‘LENTO VIOLENTO’, TCB, Naarm/Melbourne
‘B E AT P E ACE, lovely, lovely’, Fort Delta, Naarm/Melbourne
2015
‘youth, born at brunch’, George Paton Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
2014
‘do you want me to come downstairs, with rollers in my hair?’ (with Jake Swinson), Blindside, Naarm/Melbourne
‘PROUD 2014’, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
Collections
Artbank
Private collections in Australia and the United States of America
(close)Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Compartmentalisation aid I’, 2022–23. Bed sheet, high density foam, acrylic paint, muslin, silk organza, sequins, thread, watercolour, vegetable oil, graphite, resin, glow in the dark pigment, spray paint, plastic, metal, acorn, bolts, wooden board, 41 x 51 x 6 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Compartmentalisation aid II’, 2022–23. Bed sheet, high density foam, muslin, sequins, antique glass beads, plastic beads, thread, vegetable oil, graphite, resin, bolts, plastic, bolts, wooden board, 41 x 51 x 6 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Entropic Peace Construction’, 2022–23. Antique textile sampler by unknown maker (N.D), pencil on paper, foam board, epoxy and acrylic spray paint, adhesive, acrylic frame, 53.5 x 71 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: egg (watermelon)’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, sequins, 68.5 x 47 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: egg (grass green)’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, sequins, 68.5 x 47 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: egg (rust)’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, sequins, 68.5 x 47 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: egg (yellow)’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, sequins, 68.5 x 47 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: snowflake I’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, 49 x 49 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Form: snowflake II’, 2022. Powder coated steel, foam core, acrylic spray paint, rubberised spray paint, synthetic felt, beads, 49 x 49 cm.Spencer Lai ‘Impulse’, 2023. Synthetic felt, adhesive, acrylic frame, 126.5 x 194 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled’, 2023. Pencil on paper, found and altered Asian frame, 42.5 x 42.5 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, Thoughtless, rendered in flesh, 2022. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 144 x 64.5 cm (irregular).Spencer Lai, Reincarnation, 2022. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 156 x 72 cm (irregular).Spencer Lai, ‘Crushing, spit’, 2022. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 140 x 69.5 cm (irregular).Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Mantra Device (In trembling domiciles we rest risen by the sound of the Bird-Machine)’, 2023. Foamcore, spray paint, graphite, beads, pearls, antique gelatin sequins, lab-grown gemstones, sternocera aequisignata beetle forewings, adhesive, powder coated steel, 107 x 85 x 3 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai and Tim Hardy, ‘We are Shaped by the Hands of Many’, 2023.Spencer Lai and Tim Hardy, ‘System (Desire Activity)’, 2023. Chromogenic print, custom blackwood frame, 67 x 67 x 4 cm.Spencer Lai and Tim Hardy, ‘Scenario (Tutorial)’, 2023. Chromogenic print, custom blackwood frame, 67 x 67 x 4 cm.Spencer Lai and Tim Hardy, ‘Song for Tom’, 2023. Chromogenic print, custom blackwood frame, 67 x 67 x 4 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, 'Let us be silent so that we may hear the whisper of God ...’, Neon Parc Brunswick, 2023.Spencer Lai, ‘Presentation of Transitional Phenomena: Regression in Service of the Self (Forms)’, (detail) 2023. Wood, various components, dimensions variable.Spencer Lai, ‘Presentation of Transitional Phenomena: Regression in Service of the Self (Forms)’, (detail) 2023. Wood, various components, dimensions variable.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled’, 2022. Gift wrapping paper, acrylic, screws, eyelet, pressed flower and leaf craft, funeral joss paper, spray paint, resin, beetle, pencil and nail polish on tracing paper, dragonfly wing, wooden board, 30.5 x 40.5 x 4 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled’, 2022. Vintage wool, beetle, house fly, resin, vintage Dior sunglasses lens, acrylic paint, acrylic, balsa wood, resin bead, pearl bead, pressed flower and leaf craft, Polly Pocket accessories, screws, wooden board, 25 x 25 x 4 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled (market)’, 2022. Foam core, ceramic beads, metal beads, freshwater pearl beads, fabric, nails, watercolour, acrylic paint, butterfly, resin, 20 x 25 x 5 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled’, 2022. Spray paint, glass beads, plastic beads, pins, sequins on incised foam core, 33 x 17.5 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘Intrusive recreational piece II (figures, object)’, 2022. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 100 x 180 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Spencer Lai, ‘Untitled (sanctioned activity)’, 2020–21. Silk organza, watercolour, balsa wood, dress pins, colour pencil, glue, 27 x 39 x 5 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Oriental Painting.’, Neon Parc City, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Academy for the Sensitive Arts’, Theta, 2022.nstallation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Air becomes metallic scented as anger is emitted, a bounding animal halts as blood in crimson unfurls in still waterhole’, Kimberly-Klark, New York, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Air becomes metallic scented as anger is emitted, a bounding animal halts as blood in crimson unfurls in still waterhole’, Kimberly-Klark, New York, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Air becomes metallic scented as anger is emitted, a bounding animal halts as blood in crimson unfurls in still waterhole’, Kimberly-Klark, New York, 2018.nstallation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Air becomes metallic scented as anger is emitted, a bounding animal halts as blood in crimson unfurls in still waterhole’, Kimberly-Klark, New York, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Hushed Pupils’, Fort Delta, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Hushed Pupils’, Fort Delta, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘Hushed Pupils’, Fort Delta, 2018.Spencer Lai, ‘blue (flowers in vase) (after Vignes)’, 2018/1972. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 55 x 72 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘orange (A couple making love on a bench beside a stream on a summer evening, fireflies dancing around them and a stone lantern glows nearby)(after Harunobu)’, 2018/c.1725. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 68.5 x 92 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘mauve (seated figures within institution, sometimes they share meals together)’, 2018/c1890. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 32 x 52 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘grey (St. Nicholas, a protective figure shelters adolescents) (after Klossowski)’, 2018/1977. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 94 x 80 cm.Spencer Lai, ‘pink (mechanism)’, 2017. Synthetic felt, adhesive, 79 x 54 cm.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.Installation view, Spencer Lai, ‘A smile becomes a grimace as the world spins -- it is funny, the sound of laughter – it is like god's hands on the shoulders of a troubled world’, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.
