artLIVE – After years of passionate journeys and artistic exploration, painter Doan Quynh Nhu returns to her homeland, bringing with her a personal monologue with nature through her exhibition titled ‘Dance of Nature.’
Doan Quynh Nhu – A poet who dreams in paint
Born in 1978, Doan Quynh Nhu was first known as a poet, with two lyrical poetry collections: “Nhu La” (2005) and “Vong” (2009). Her love for visual art sparked at a young age, when she occasionally posed as a model for her father, a painter.
In the past four years, she has embarked on a new creative journey — one without explanations or constraints. She lets emotions and colors take the lead. From this free-flowing process, dreams begin to take shape, visions become clearer, gently tinged with poetic spirit. From there, a quiet journey of self-discovery unfolds: “A dreamscape I never want to leave – my paintings quietly hum with poetry.”
‘Dance Of Nature’ – Listening to the voice of mother earth
Three years after her exhibition “Dancing Over Ridges” (2022) in Sai Gon, and “Dreamscape” (2024) in Hamburg, Nhu now returns with ‘Dance of Nature’ presenting around 30 works painted in acrylic and mixed media on canvas. Each piece is a visual diary, capturing the delicate movements of natural emotions, humanity, pain, and renewal — layered brushstroke by brushstroke, color by color.
‘Dance Of Nature’ translates to “the dance of nature”, a visual symphony where strokes of paint and abstract forms whisper the stories of Mother Earth: at times grand and majestic, at others soft and fragile, sometimes fractured by deep wounds.
From “Birthing Earth”, “Shimmering Dreams”, and “Primal” to “Stitching Night’s Wounds”, each artwork opens a door into a world of inner conflict – a feminine intuition wrestling with nature and life itself.
The earthy tones and cracked textures resemble scars on the planet’s surface, evoking the deep pain that nature endures scorched forests, dried riverbeds, and a rapidly changing atmosphere, all urgent signals of an ailing Earth.
Yet, amid the ruins, life quietly returns like a crimson stream trickling through layers of stone, or a flower blooming unexpectedly on a precarious cliffside.
Doan Quynh Nhu’s paintings are not labeled nor driven by specific ideas. She lets color take the lead, as if listening to an instrumental melody or catching a fleeting dream before it has a name. Nature appears not just as something to admire, but as a mirror of her inner world gentle yet fierce, solitary yet longing deeply for connection.
Profound messages behind layers of color
Through the language of abstract painting, Nhu conveys a subtle message about Gaia – Mother Earth as a sacred, living body that nurtures all forms of life.
Behind each piece lies a quiet reminder from the artist: about the Earth, about the cost of human greed. The rough textures and fractured surfaces serve as warnings of what nature pays for our relentless consumption. And yet, within the darkness, light still finds a way in like a prayer for the healing journey of our shared home.
Art critic Ngo Kim Khoi once said of Doan Quynh Nhu: “Her paintings are like an instrumental composition, where poetry and art hold each other up guiding the viewer back to the raw and essential emotions of being human.”
‘Dance of Nature’ is the whisper of wind, of trees and underground streams flowing through the belly of the Earth. The exhibition arrives as a message, reminding us to pause, to listen, and to understand that every step we take leaves a trace on the body of Mother Earth. And so, let us move through life with awareness and responsibility.
The exhibition ‘Dance of Nature’ by Doan Quynh Nhu will be open to the public from August 2 to August 10 at 22 Gallery, No. 22 Pham Cu Luong Street, Tan Son Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
Photos: Tong Khanh Ha
