‘Sticker Lady’ Sam Lo’s first solo show marks the end of a chapter

As an urban artist, Samantha Lo’s reputation was largely built around her witty social commentary-laced works in the streets under the moniker SKL0. But these days, the 29-year-old, who was once dubbed Sticker Lady, is talking less about “grandfather roads” and more about things such as, well, parallel universes, quantum physics and meditation.

“I had this awakening at one point of time that made me more curious about the world — that there’s so much more outside, and not just in terms of our city or country,” said Lo.

Hold on a minute. Is this the same person who did all those Press Until Shiok and Anyhow Paste Kena Fine traffic light stickers? Is Lo turning into a New Age softie?

“I don’t know. Maybe?” she said with a laugh. “When people ask me for quotes and stuff, I’d tell them things like ‘Elevate and be the change’ and stuff like that. And they’d be like, ‘Wah, now you’re damn zen. You meditating ah? And I like that, because it’s only when people say these things that I’ve realised I’ve changed.”

PAYING HOMAGE TO LEE KUAN YEW

It does sound like Lo is moving on to the next chapter. It has been some time since the infamous incident surrounding her My Grandfather Road spray-paint graffiti, for which she was charged for mischief and sentenced to 240 hours of community service in 2013. And she is marking the end of this episode in her life with her first solo exhibition, the LIMPEH Show, at the Substation.

It mainly comprises works from her LIMPEH portrait series of the late Lee Kuan Yew, which was actually what she was known for first, before her interventionist stickers and that certain graffiti shot her to fame. The series, a visual pun combining American street-artist Shepard Fairey’s iconic OBEY poster and the Hokkien phrase meaning “your father” (“Obey your father la.”), began in the streets in 2011 as wheatpaste art on A4-sized papers and stickers, which eventually caught the eye of collectors who commissioned her to develop these into collage paintings.

The show marks the end of the series, she said, but of course there is the added layer of significance with this year marking both the nation’s 50th anniversary and the passing of Lee.

“It’s a way of saying goodbye to my old self and paying homage to him,” said Lo, describing the series as a way of documenting her feelings (and those of her friends and family) about Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.

“He’s like a father whose methods I could never really agree with all the time. I’ve heard a lot about him to feel that he had to do some things, had to give up a lot of things, and he’s really like a father figure in that respect,” she said.

In a sense, the series of eight works follows a kind of narrative trajectory, with titles such as Power, Money and Progress, each reflecting a certain theme. While the exhibition as a whole feels a lot less cheeky than what some might come to expect from Lo, her colloquial wit is still evident: Surveillance features glow-in-the-dark images of surveillance cameras, while Influence is a mirror (“you see yourself—and you’re a product of his influence”).

If there is one piece that stands out for Lo, it is the most recent and final one—the eggshell mosaic portrait titled Goodbye, which is a commentary on Lee’s final days. It took her two months to make it (sourcing the eggshells from char kway teow sellers) and she refused to sign it, with the faces of Mr and Mrs Lee peeking out instead.

“The previous pieces talked a lot about how influential he was, but I wanted to highlight what people felt when he was in the hospital and when he passed on—the first time people actually acknowledged the fact that he was human, that he’s one of us. We started quoting him, started talking about his family, I thought it was an interesting shift,” she said.

THE NEXT WAVE

But the show does not end with the portraits. Ten white T-shirts with the word “Limpeh” on them hang on one side of the gallery. Titled Onward, it is a continuation of the series. With the passing of Lee, it is our turn to be the next “limpeh”, she said. “I believe that we could be the next wave — how this country carries on is really up to you.”

In a sense, it is also full circle for the series, which began as public art in the streets before moving into people’s homes and an art gallery, before finally heading back to the streets in the form of clothing.

As for the series’ title, which carries a less-than-positive connotation for others, Lo offered a shrug. “The way I look at it, it’s a common colloquial term so I really didn’t see it as derogatory. If Jack Neo can use it in his films and they can actually broadcast it on TV and stuff like that ... But it really depends on how the person was exposed to the word in the first place. It’s not like a formal ‘your father’ but a casual way,” she said.

After LIMPEH Show, Lo plans to move on from what has been a pretty difficult few years. Early last year, she finished serving her community service sentence (“I helped out at some old folks homes, did some design work, a community mural — all of which I actually enjoyed”), but there had obviously been a change.

“I wasn’t myself the whole time and I was trying to keep a strong front. I had lost that anonymity, and felt restricted in what I did and how I appeared outside — I couldn’t even paste a sticker like last time! After the case, people were like, ‘Eh, don’t ah’, and I used to do it all the time!” Lo said with a laugh.

Travelling, learning meditation and digging deep into art were ways of dealing with it all (she had been very active with public commissions and art fairs, and group shows both in Penang and Singapore) and one of her future plans is to embark on a research project that will result in a documentary exploring “this spirituality topic”.

“On top of being very chill now, I know I’m on the right path. I’m not as angry as I was before,” she said.

Nevertheless, when it comes to the subject of her famous stickers, Lo said she still sells and gives them away. “What they do with it is up to them,” she said, adding she has no regrets about her previous interventions.

“If you ask me, I would have still done it. Everyone had a laugh out of it, right? I feel the effects are much stronger than protecting a traffic light button. And besides, they have adhesive remover, so chill out, man,” she said with a laugh.

LIMPEH Show runs until Aug 22, fromnoon to 8pm, at The Substation Gallery. Closed today. Free admission.