Showcase “The Absurd Cycle of Everyday Events”
Opening: 12 PM, Sun 19 Apr 2026
Exhibition: 10 AM – 05 PM, Mon – Sat, 19 Apr – 09 May 2026
Toong
11B Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, Sài Gòn, HCMC
From the organizer:
Life is filled with absurdity. We move through an endless cycle of everyday events, yet everything remains unpredictable and can turn upside down at any moment. From small matters in relationships or work, to world events unfolding through the news, things rarely go well as expected. So much lies beyond one’s control that we are no longer able to hold onto any larger sense of purpose, eventually becoming helpless.
In Huyen Duong’s series of watercolor paintings, colored pencil sketches and an installation, nothing adheres to a fixed order, and thoughts remain fragmented—here, there, everywhere. A childhood fascination with toys and stickers intersects with an interest in feng shui and philosophy amidst absurdity. Vibrant colors collide within chaotic compositions: a fly circling restlessly across a distant burning landscape; a horse gazing helplessly at a watermelon tree that fails to grow; a butterfly glasshouse pumping water to plants as fire breaks out instead; or a toy car looping endlessly against a backdrop of plaster mountains.
It is within these fragments of everyday events—through joy, pain, sadness, and unease—that one learns to dismantle and rearrange everything, playing by their own rules. Perhaps, the only way forward is to accept the absurdity of life and to move with its rhythm: as if waking from a strange dystopian dream, only to realize that we are already living within it.
– Curator An Trần
Huyền Dương (b. 2001) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Ho Chi Minh City, with interests drawn from personal experiences and everyday events. Trained in oil painting, she works across traditional materials – including textiles, papermaking, and printmaking – as well as digital tools, circuit bending, and toy making, bringing these elements together within installation-based practices. Her current focus centers on creating spatial works responding to specific environments, integrating material, audio, and video components to deepen narrative and emotional resonance. Huyen holds a BFA in Oil Painting from Tama Art University (Tokyo, Japan). Her works have been featured in the group exhibition “Harsh Touch” (2024) at Koganei Art Spot Chateau 2F (Tokyo, Japan).
An Trần works primarily with writing and film photography, alongside occasional curatorial projects. Her interests lie in the spontaneity and uncertainties of things, aiming to reveal the artmaking and thinking processes behind the works – included in her writings featuring exhibitions and artists, with occasional reflections on art history. Meanwhile, her photography practice is rooted in land travel and a life shaped by distance and shifting cultures. An holds an M.A. in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practices from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), and currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City.
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