SAMMY LAI
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Sammy Lai  (b.1996) is a Hong Kong-born visual artist based in Manchester, UK. He works primarily with painting and installation, exploring the layered relationships between urban environments, nature, and emotion. His compositions overflow with rhythm, movement, and visual complexity, reflecting a belief that abundance creates a sense of safety and wholeness.

A graduate of Chelsea College of Arts (BA Hons) and Hong Kong Baptist University (MA, UGC scholarship), Lai draws from his everyday observations, cultural memory, and spatial histories to build immersive environments. Using fragmented, process-led methods, his work embraces chaos as a path to harmony—inviting viewers to rethink their connection to place, community, and the unseen narratives embedded in their surroundings.
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Lai became an Associate Member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) in 2025. Through both solo and collaborative projects, his practice aims to deepen dialogue between art and place, and to contribute meaningfully to artist-led communities in the UK and beyond.
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Education

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2021-2022  Master of Visual Art, Academy of Visual Art, Hong Kong Baptist University 
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2018-2021​  Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London

Awards

Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships ( UGC )

Equipment Hardship Fund


Solo Exhibition

2021  At the back Alley
124 Caine Road, Mid-level, Hong Kong

Selected Exhibition

2025 Manchester Contemporary Art Fair
Manchester Central Convention Complex

2025 Kind of blue
Black Redstart Gallery, Manchester City Centre

2025 New Mills Festival
Sweetmore and Firth, New Mills, Derbyshire

2025 Undercurrent
B.T Batsford Gallery, 266 Hackney Road, London

2025 404 Not Found
The Fitzrovia Gallery, London

2025 An Abstract Adventure
Badger in the Wall Gallery, Clapham, North Yorkshire

2024 ARCHES London Group Exhibition
The Holy Art Gallery,London

2022 INNER SHORE
51 Kwun Tong Road Kowloon, Hong Kong

2021 Alley in City
124 Caine Road, Mid-level, Hong Kong

2021 Degree Show
Chelsea College of Art, London

2020 Just for you
Unit 13, Butterfly Walk Shopping Center, London

2020 Time with myself
Online Gallery Residency, Hong Kong

2019 Chinese New Year “Pig Year”
Lee Tung Street, Wan Chi, Hong Kong

2019 Garden
The Humble Gallery, London

2019 End of year open studio
Chelsea College of Art, London

2019 Open Studio
Triangle Space Gallery, Chelsea College of Art, London

2019 Course selected Exhibition
Central Saint Martin, UAL, London



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