Lananh Lê
Experimental Vietnamese artist conjures up otherworlds
By Ho See Wah
Lananh Lê, ‘Fishbowl Locket’ (film still), 2019, video, 12 hours. Image courtesy of MoT+++.
Born in 1993 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Lananh Lê is a multidisciplinary, experimental artist concerned with the intersections of mythologies, ecologies, cultures and histories.
The self-taught artist studied Comparative Studies at Stanford University, California before returning to Ho Chi Minh City two years ago to start her artistic practice. She has since participated in various exhibitions in Vietnam and beyond, such as group shows ‘Vanguard #4’ (2017) at Chaosdowntown, Ho Chi Minh City and ‘Deciphering Clothes: The Troublemakers’ Wardrobe’ (2018-2019) at Hatch Art Project, Singapore, as well as solo presentations ‘Creeping Pinks’ (2017) at Kashima House, Oita and ‘Frozen Data’ (2019) at MoT+++, Ho Chi Minh City.
Lananh Le, ‘những con vật hoang đường bên tháp đồng hồ’ (‘all around the clock towers’), 2019, oil on canvas, 150 x 220cm. Image courtesy of the artist
Her artworks are a vibrant, idiosyncratic assortment of imageries brimming with imaginations of alternative realities, expressed through a range of media from oil on canvas to digital paintings to moving image. In a film still from ‘Fishbowl Locket’, a work from ‘Frozen Data’, the artist manipulates a mise-en-scene from the real world with patterns and objects to present an ethereal reality. For ‘những con vật hoang đường bên tháp đồng hồ’ (‘all around the clock towers’), animals composed of fire, phantasmagorical heads and lush greenery come together on a patch of land floating in outer space. These eccentric alterations and assemblages lend a playful quality to her aesthetic. And though Lananh describes her recent works as stemming from “an unruly subconscious”, her long-standing interest in conjuring otherworlds is evident from her elaborate and fantastical image-making.
Click here to read our conversation with Lananh, where she speaks about her shift from political activism to art, her artistic process for ‘Frozen Data’ and the Vietnamese contemporary art scene.
