Sculptural installation.
Miniature "allergic" sculpture, foam, water in a rusty deep metal tray.

Statement

Inspired by my own allergic reactions when consuming... bánh mì, I juxtapose the notion of allergy, both in physical and mental senses, with the responses from the very essence of human beings, when our emotions are triggered and invaded by incessant information from social media. With that in mind, sculpture is my medium of choice to engrave the pains and shape the wounds. Creating this work about allergic itching is my personal attempt to describe the state of mind when Internal Allergy* takes place - a psychological condition from which various passive reactions stem from, when the core-being is confronted by society.

For me, a tradition sculpture is usually constructed with cement, copper, stone, wood, iron, clay, plastic... I adopt foam as an alternative. Foam exists in two forms: liquid and solid, but will be forged into its final shape by varying environmental effects. The unpredictable nature of foam implies the uncertainty of allergic symptoms, either on the human body or other matters. The randomness of allergic reactions demonstrates the uncontrollability of the ever-changing allergens from within or without a "body". That "body" can represent myself, or a home, or the whole society at large. Whether an existence takes the form of a "body" or spirituality, it is a "body" after all. Inevitably, all beings are exposed to allergy...

*Other title: Inner Allergy (in "The Grapevine Selection", Hanoi Grapevine, 2023)

Statement is excerpted from “Assemblage: Me, my story and I" Exhibition Booklet, 2023, p.23.