A licensed pharmacist, Alan Lau received his first degree in music composition from UBC, along with training in studio art. He now travels to the city of Fort St. John on a twice monthly basis to practise pharmacy, and when he is in Vancouver, he also works at the Downtown Community Health Centre in the Downtown Eastside. As a long-time volunteer at the Chinese Community Library, one of his interests has been bridging the communication gap between Chinatown elders and other DTES residents, which serves as a major theme for his Small Arts Grants project. He is also one of the few Cantonese language instructors in town, and was a keynote presenter at Greeting Fluency in 2010. Moving between different "worlds," Alan is fascinated by the duality and contrasts in life, which he continues to explore through his music and acrylic paintings: East and West, art and science (vs. “reality”), abstraction and realism, city life and the northern space.
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