[06] aye, mynah (2026) by Dana Lam

The mynah is on its way to becoming a recurring motif in a new body of work by Lam concerned with the entanglements of lives and threatened habitats.

Made especially for Checkpoint Theatre’s fundraiser, this new drawing offers those who missed the earlier birds another chance to take one home — and, in so doing, to help another year of Singapore stories find their way from idea to page to stage.

The mynah with a thousand-yard stare first appeared in Who Knows Where the Bird Goes, Lam’s solo exhibition commissioned by T:>Works in July. That first bird drew interest from more than one collector; a sister mynah, shown subsequently at Haridas Contemporary, was acquired on opening night.

Something about the bird’s pointed stare, absurd head and self-possession in the face of life’s indignities makes it kin.

The Javan mynah, a songbird native to Indonesia, arrived in Singapore through the bird trade in the 1920s.

Biography:
Dana Lam works across writing, drawing and performance. She is indebted to her feminist sisters in the fields of writing, research, theatre and visual art. Lam served as President of AWARE from 2000–2002 and again from 2009–2011. One claim to fame is being part of the core group that initiated the reclaiming of AWARE in May 2009. She has worked as a reporter for The Straits Times.

Lam was awarded Silver in the Established Artist Category at the 43rd UOB Painting of the Year competition in 2024. In the same year, her visual journal, The Art of Being a Grandmother: An Incomplete Diary of Becoming (published by Checkpoint Theatre), was nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize.

Lam’s publications include Days of Being Wild: Walking the line with the Opposition (Ethos Book, 2006) on the General Elections of 2006, described as “a remarkable act of service to our understanding of the struggles of opposition political parties.”

Lam’s first solo art exhibition, Who Knows Where The Bird Goes – Dana Lam: Six Decades of Practice, was presented as the first artist commission of The Agency Fest 2026, a new T:>Works initiative supporting artists aged 60 and above.

Specifications:
– Year: 2026
– Medium: Charcoal on paper
– Dimensions: 93.5 x 74 cm, framed
– Note: the work is in an archival frame
– Auction winner can collect aye, mynah by Dana Lam during Checkpoint Celebrates! 2026, or make delivery arrangements with our team