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I jumped into a pool of thought and out of the ripples came a dream.
– Jem Ham –
Jem Ham is a self taught artist who started painting on brick walls with water at the age of four. Fascinated by the way the water marked the brick and the ability to bring to life something from within, his love for art was born. Since then, it has been a journey of self-discovery through art, fuelled by a passionate need to create.
During childhood, his artistic curiosity burgeoned through hours spent alone climbing trees and daydreaming about existence. Today, his impetus for mark marking originates from deeper within the psyche. Jem describes the source of his art as ‘images staring at you from the walls of your mind, throwing up mirrors to our own nature’.
Working primarily on canvas, linen and paper, his art is an attempt to unravel the day to day psyche through surrealist automatism and biomorphic forms. It reflects a journey of evolving self-awareness, reaching from the physical world, to mind and spirit.
His art captures moments of doubt and confusion, of weakness and strength, of joy and sorrow, of fantasy and reality, of whimsy and clarity, and of love and longing. In essence, his works are a soapbox for the subconscious mind, giving voice to the imaginative world within.
Jem has exhibited in Australia and internationally, with works selected as finalists in several major art prizes. His work is held in private collections around Australia and has been featured in a number of online and print publications.
Jem currently lives by the beach in Fremantle, Western Australia.
2020
Thoughts from afar – an artist’s journey through a global pandemic
Ootong and Lincoln Gallery, Fremantle, Australia
2018
The Imaginarium of Jem Ham
Basement Gallery, Subiaco, Australia
2023
City of Stirling Art Awards Exhibition
City of Stirling Reception Hall, Stirling, Western Australia
Claremont Art Awards
Town of Claremont Administration Building, Claremont, Western Australia
Cossack Art Awards
Cossack Bond Store, Cossack, Western Australia
Black + White
Metamorphosis Gallery, Willetton, Western Australia
Fifty Squared Art Prize
Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, Victoria
City of Gosnells Art Awards
The Agonis, Gosnells, Western Australia
Extensions
Armadale Arena, Armadale, Western Australia
Art Lovers Australia Collector’s Edition Exhibition and Book Launch
Art Lovers Australia Melbourne Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria
2022
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize
Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Street Gallery Fremantle Project
Selected shopfronts, Fremantle, Western Australia
Minnawarra Art Awards
Armadale District Hall, Armadale, Western Australia
2021
City of Bayswater Art Awards
The Rise, Maylands, Western Australia
City of Stirling Art Awards Exhibition
City of Stirling Reception Hall, Stirling, Western Australia
City of Melville Art Awards
Wireless Hill Museum, Ardross, Western Australia
Mindscapes 2021
Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize
Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Kennedy Prize
Royal South Australian Society of Arts, Adelaide, South Australia
Canning Art Awards
Riverton Library, Riverton, Western Australia
Cossack Art Awards
Cossack Bond Store, Cossack, Western Australia
City of Belmont Art Awards
The Glasshouse, Cloverdale, Western Australia
2020
Spring Collection
The Corner Gallery, Subiaco, Western Australia
Waverley Art Prize
Online exhibition, Waverley Woollahra Art School, New South Wales
2019
City of Stirling Art Awards Exhibition
City of Stirling Reception Hall, Stirling, Western Australia
Canning Art Awards
Riverton Library, Riverton, Western Australia
First Look 2019 – Emerging Artist Exhibition
Buratti Gallery, Subiaco, Western Australia
2008
Miscellany
The Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2005
Two Cities
C-Cubed Art Space, Balwyn, Victoria
2024
Finalist
Art/Edit Self Represented Artist Prize
2023
Finalist
Boynes Artist Award 9th Edition
Finalist
Claremont Art Awards
2022
Finalist
Minnawarra Art Awards
2021
Best Painting
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize
Finalist
Kennedy Prize
Finalist
City of Melville Art Awards
2020
Finalist
Waverley Art Prize
2019
Westfield People’s Choice Award
City of Stirling Art Awards
2023
Art Edit Magazine: ‘Ones to Watch’, Issue #37, p 17.
Art Lovers Australia Collector’s Edition Book
Marvelous Art Magazine, April 2023 [Online and print]
2019
Surrealism Today: “Jem Ham”, December 29, 2019. [Online]
McNeill, Sarah: “Art’s Young Tyros”, Subiaco Post, vol 46, no.11, March 16, 2019. p.67-68
2017
Art People Gallery: “The Art of Jem Ham”, September 4, 2017 [Online]
2016
STYLO Online Magazine, Issue 9 ‘Alive’, October 13, 2016. p.16-17 [Online]
2021
Mural – A diver’s dream
Private commission
Mural – Caterpillar (aka Acid Cat)
Private commission
Mural – The Human Puzzle
Private commission
Mural – Homerun Food
Private commission
Painting – Growing new lungs to breathe
Private commission
Drawing – The Natural Explorer
Private commission
2020
Mural – Mr. F. Reo
Private commission
2017
Painting – Oh the possibilities
Private commission
2016
Drawing – The human out of water
Private commission
2021
Conversations around the kitchen table
Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
2020 – Present
Artsource
Western Australia
2021 – 2022
Contemporary Australian Surrealists Movement (CASM)
Western Australia