Profiles

With "Y?", Táo introduces his audience to a part of the Vietnamese contemporary independent art scene made up of diverse voices from many parts of society, while mainstream culture presents the status quo.

"I do think that creating is indeed a way to escape the hardship of our lives. But escape doesn’t necessarily mean forgetfulness or oblivion."

The story changes the longer you look, and even when you turn away from the canvas, a haunting afterimage lingers—like a memory of a bittersweet encounter, or of the first book that made you cry.

"With every painting, I struggle. I struggle with the composition and color, like how I struggle with life.  As I am working on it, through it, I heal."

"I feel my passions are forever pulling me in different directions, each tying and severing themselves from me of their own free will. Writing fiction is the only way I’ve been able to track these flippant passions and preserve them in some way."

Underbellies are beautiful. I am drawn to shadows and reflections because they decenter the dominant subject, the main message, and instead reveal the margins of a substance.