Untitled (gown made for <i>Masquerade</i>)

Lam screenprinted naked figures—of varying genders and ethnicities—onto surgical gowns, using them as canvases to explore bodily vulnerability and transformation. The choice of medical attire reflected her own experience with lupus, a chronic illness that had confined her to hospitals. By inviting strangers to wear these garments, she encouraged empathy and a reexamination of how bodies are seen, judged, and hidden. The work confronted taboos around nudity, illness, and racial representation in public space.

Lam employed screenprinting on lightweight cotton and paper fabrics, adapting surgical gowns into wearable forms ranging from knee-length to full-length. The imagery was rendered in flat, unmodulated tones, emphasizing clarity and directness. The prints featured unidealized human forms, arranged without hierarchy or ornamentation. The technique’s reproducibility aligned with the project’s democratic ethos, allowing multiple versions to circulate and be experienced by diverse participants.

The gown was produced as part of Masquerade, a 1998 initiative by the London Printworks Trust, a community arts organization in Brixton. The project was conceived as a temporary installation within a market setting, blending art, fashion, and public interaction. After the exhibition, the garments were dispersed or archived, with this piece likely retained as part of the Trust’s collection or donated to a public institution. Lam’s involvement was deeply personal, occurring during the final years of her life.

Masquerade emerged from a broader trend in late 1990s British art that prioritized participatory and socially engaged practices. Community workshops like the London Printworks Trust provided platforms for artists to collaborate with non-traditional audiences. Lam’s work intersected with feminist and postcolonial discourses, challenging norms around the body, race, and medical authority. Her use of hospital garments resonated with a growing cultural interest in illness as a lived, visible experience.

Lam’s gowns remain a quiet but potent example of art as embodied testimony. Though her career was cut short by lupus, her work in Masquerade continues to be referenced in discussions of participatory art and bodily politics. The project’s emphasis on direct public engagement—wearing, photographing, and reflecting—set a precedent for later community-based practices. Her willingness to fuse personal suffering with public performance expanded the boundaries of what art could address in everyday spaces.