Lotus Kang

(b. 1985)

When Lotus L. Kang was still a ‘baby artist’, as she puts it, she frequently called photo labs in her hometown of Toronto to inquire about any leftover materials they might have. ‘I was their little parasite,’ Kang admits, ‘taking whatever scraps I could get.’ One day, a lab called to offer her an unopened roll of photo paper they no longer needed. ‘I told them I’d be right over,’ recalls Kang, whose studio was a ten-minute walk away. Lifting the roll onto her shoulder, Kang immediately realized it was too heavy to be photo paper. The lab had mistakenly given her an industrial roll of photogram film. - Art Basel