Finding beauty in the overlooked & meaning in the forgotten
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023, installation view ‘The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ 2024 / Doors: Lacquer, gold and silver leaf, mineral pigment on wood; Silk paintings: Ink, calligraphy, synthetic polymer paint and embroidery on silk; Brick fragments: Concrete and lacquer / Nine doors; seven silk paintings; six brick fragments / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / This project is supported by the Commonwealth through the Office for the Arts, part of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
Lê Thuý is a skilled practitioner of the traditional Vietnamese arts of silk and lacquer painting, highlighting their beauty and their cultural and religious value, while subtly commenting on contemporary issues.
The multi-part installation Echo 2024 installed in the eleventh Asia Pacific Triennial, evokes a ruined house. The work began with the recovery of nine doors from a dismantled house in the historical town of Hội An, which the artist has delicately painted in red lacquer and gold foiling, incorporating references to history, memento mori narratives and pan-Asian religions.
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023 / Doors: Lacquer, gold and silver leaf, mineral pigment on wood / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / View full image
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023 / Doors: Lacquer, gold and silver leaf, mineral pigment on wood / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / View full image
At the centre of the doors is a single shadowy figure with multiple arms, representing Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy and the mother goddess of Đao Mâu spiritual beliefs, which are deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. The plants featured have been selected for their symbolic meanings, from those used in medicine or poisons to those embodying prosperity and beauty (the peony) or high moral character (bamboo). On one side are images of war and disaster, on the other dreams and hopes.
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023 / Silk paintings: Ink, calligraphy, synthetic polymer paint and embroidery on silk / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / View full image
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023 / Silk paintings: Ink, calligraphy, synthetic polymer paint and embroidery on silk / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / View full image
Translucent suspended silk paintings complete the installation, depicting interiors with family shrines, memorabilia and architectural embellishments, capturing the moral values and aspirations of former occupants.
The transience of memory and vulnerability of heritage are at the heart of Lê Thuý’s project, further signalled by broken bricks adorned with gold details. In the artist’s words: ‘It is my hope that through this exploration, we may find beauty in the overlooked and meaning in the forgotten.’ Echo alludes to the loss of cultural heritage in a society motivated only by economic prosperity and self-interest.
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023 / Brick fragments: Concrete and lacquer / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / View full image
Lê Thu, Việt Nam b.1988 / Echo 2023, installation view ‘The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ 2024 / Doors: Lacquer, gold and silver leaf, mineral pigment on wood; Silk paintings: Ink, calligraphy, synthetic polymer paint and embroidery on silk; Brick fragments: Concrete and lacquer / Nine doors; seven silk paintings; six brick fragments / Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © Lê Thu / This project is supported by the Commonwealth through the Office for the Arts, part of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
This project is supported by the Commonwealth through the Office for the Arts, part of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
Edited extract from the publication The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, 2024
Asia Pacific Triennial
30 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)
Brisbane, Australia
Free entry
Asia Pacific Triennial Extended
View this work at GOMA until 13 July