b. 1989, Indianapolis, USA | Based in London, UK

Yambe Tam is a visual artist who creates contemplative experiences that explore the fluid nature of reality through immersive experiences and installations. She builds virtual worlds in the form of experimental video games and interactive experiences, often using immersive technologies such as AR and VR to expand the limits of the human sensorium, revealing other layers of reality and diverse experiences of consciousness on microscopic to planetary scales. Her physical works - which span paintings, sculpture, and room-sized installations - present other ways these realities manifest across spatio-temporal dimensions.

This spectrum of works is united by a sensibility of quietude and wonder, reflecting diverse influences such as science fiction, spacetime geometry, and Japanese gardens. Their experience and structure evoke long durational rituals of purification, restoration, and transcendence, drawing upon Tam’s time spent in Zen Buddhist monasteries. These works, which often require activation and participation from the viewer, push the boundaries of digital and installation art into the fields of spiritual practice, gaming, and experimental research.

Her work has been exhibited at institutions including FACT, Liverpool (2021); Two Temple Place, London (2023); the Korean Cultural Centre, Berlin & London (2022-23); the Science Museum, London (2024), the Royal Society of Sculptors, London (2023); Attenborough Art Centre, Leicester (2021); the Barbican Arts Trust, London (2021); and selected for gaming festivals WASD Curios (2022) and The Leftfield Collection, EGX Rezzed (2020). She has held events and workshops at the Big Data Institute, University of Oxford (2023); The Bayes Centre, Edinburgh (2024); and spoken at the Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University (2024). She has been artist in residence with Jerwood Arts/FACT Digital Fellowship, Liverpool (2021); the Wellcome Centre for Ethics & Humanities, University of Oxford (2022-23); Abandon Normal Devices, Manchester (2023); and was Visiting Fellow in Visual Arts at the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Edinburgh (2023-24).

EDUCATION + CREDENTIALS

MA Painting, Royal College of Art, London, UK (2018). Distinction.

BFA Painting / Art History, Theory & Criticism, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland (2012). Summa cum laude.

Ojukai, Kanshoji Monastery, Dordogne, FR (2019). Led by Rev. Minamizawa Zenji.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tarasova, Olga, “Inside: Incorporeality of Art and Architecture”, Trebuchet, 3 May 2023.

“Q&A with New Cinema Days artist, Yambe Tam”, Abandon Normal Devices, 17 April 2023.

“New Indie Games: Our Picks from W.A.S.D. Curios”, PCGamesN, 6 April 2022.

Kirk-Smith, Patrick, “Review: Uncertain Data: a brief meditation at FACT”, Art in Liverpool, 1 Oct 2021.

Binns, Leah, “Uncertain Data”, Corridor8, 30 Sept 2021.

Lemos, Mariana, “Curators Conversations: Entanglements in Time”, Mercurius Magazine, 15 Aug 2021.

Zyman, Daniela and TBA21-Academy, eds., Oceans Rising. A Companion to Territorial Agency’s Oceans in Transformation, Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2021.

RESIDENCIES + FELLOWSHIPS

Cove Park, Argyll and Bute, UK, 2024

Visiting Fellowship in Visual Arts, International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Edinburgh & Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK 2023-24

New Cinema Days, Abandon Normal Devices, Manchester, UK, 2023

The Art Depot, Chrysalis Arts, Gargrave, UK, 2023

Wellcome Centre for Ethics & Humanities, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, 2022-23

Thorp Stavri x Two Temple Place, London, UK, 2022

Jerwood Arts / FACT Digital Fellowship, Liverpool, UK, 2020-21

SELECTED AWARDS

Artist Bursary, a-n The Artists Information Company, London, UK, 2023

Creative Access x McLaren Racing Bursary, Creative Access, London, UK, 2022

WASD Curios - Official Selection, WASD, London, UK, 2022

Gilbert Bayes Award (2022), Royal Society of Sculptors, London, UK, 2021

National Lottery Project Grant, Arts Council England, London, UK, 2020, 2021

Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, USA, 2020

Artist + Activist Grant, The Soze Foundation, New York, USA, 2020

The Leftfield Collection - Official Selection, EGX Rezzed, London, UK, 2020

Developing Your Creative Practice Grant, Arts Council England, London, UK, 2019

First Place, Barbican Arts Group Trust Artworks Open, London, UK, 2018

Public commission, Indianapolis International Airport, Indianapolis, USA, 2015

William & Dorothy Yeck Award, Hiestand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 2015