CELESTIAL DUST: BỤI TINH VÂN I Wiking Salon Nha Be

The Celestial Dust exhibition showcases 40 lacquer paintings by Dinh Quan, utilising traditional Vietnamese lacquer combined with other innovative and unique synthetic materials on wood core.

Throughout the three decades of practice, Dinh Quan has persistently reinvented himself, from figurative to conceptual. Distinct from his previous works, “Celestial Dust” is a series of creations that helps the artist dismantle the many barriers and assumptions about the material, form, and mindset of traditional lacquer, as well as the relationship between art and the audience. 

40 artworks displayed this time represent a confluence of deeply absorbed Eastern philosophy and aesthetics and a Western visual lexicon based on the fundamental units of form, mass, line, and colour in their physical-visual correlation, guiding the viewer into landscapes of mental states with diverse emotional terrains.

Artist Dinh Quan talked about his inspiration for the new series “Celestial Dust”: ““Celestial Dust” is an experiment differing from “Genesis” (2023) via an overarching contrast in visual expression and inherent concept. Nothing in the universe is ever static or independent; everything is interconnected like a crystalline structure architected at the microscopic level. I hope these “architectures” that bind everything together - people with people, people with nature - are resilient, direct, and transparent like that of a diamond.”

In addition, he shared his thoughts about the relationship between the old materials and the very new ones that are experimented and applied in this series: “ I use various materials and aim to fully optimise the advantages of each, constructing interactions among such to create visual frequencies. Each material has its own language, one that does not need to be described or illustrated. [...] In some artworks, I combine pearl powder and phosphorescent powder to create a shimmering, mystical, multi-dimensional effect. I place forms within such, making them appear to float in space. If you look closely, you'll find your mind moving, rather than the painting itself.”