Fresh Faces: Lai Yu Tong

Lai Yu Tong, ‘Newspaper Painting No. 111’, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist.

Almost a year ago now, I lost a bit of my right thumb after a bad accident at work. Strangely enough, the subject of the hand had started appearing in my works shortly before the accident. Prior to that, I had been making works that feature things (images, vessels, boxes and cars) constantly being arranged and rearranged. The hand eventually makes its introduction, almost claiming responsibility over these gestures and reminding us that the human hand is often behind all acts of good or evil, creation or destruction. What I learnt from the accident was also that the hand is our most important tool.

I was very affected by the accident for only a short while until I began drawing with my left hand. When I discovered that I could do this, I had a kind of enlightenment or rebirth and had one of my most productive spells of art-making. I made many drawings as my hand began to recover. This piece was made shortly before the accident. It is one of my ‘Newspaper Paintings’ that I showed recently in a group show titled ‘Three Sketches for a Lost Year’ curated by Berny Tan.