Graduating from the Lacquer Painting Department of Hue University of Arts in 2006, artist Lại Thanh Dũng went through a period of experimentation across materials and themes before choosing Huế as the central subject of his practice and lacquer as his primary medium.

Rather than pursuing the ornate splendor commonly associated with traditional red-and-gold lacquer, Dũng opts for a restrained palette. His compositions foreground the meticulousness of individual hand-carved lines, gliding across monochrome inlays of silver and gold leaf. It is precisely this technique that lends solidity and gravitas to the canopies of Wutong trees—a recurring image throughout Tán Nguyệt, his upcoming solo exhibition at Lotus Gallery.

Within the works, Wutong tree canopies unfold along curves, breaks, and twists of branches that extend in all directions. Layer upon layer interlock and support one another, forming a dense, stratified structure.

In East Asian tradition, the Wutong tree is revered as a regal flower—the place where the phoenix alights—symbolizing immortality, virtue, and authority. In the context of Huế’s imperial citadel, it stands as a noble emblem of the Nguyễn Dynasty. Beneath the Wutong trees, the Imperial City emerges solemn and imposing. Even where life has long withdrawn, the spiritual gravity of this sacred land remains undeniable.

Moving further, traces of human presence appear with quiet humility, nearly dissolving into an expansive, boundless void—no more than a speck within a veil of silvery mist. This is the dim, drifting light of the moon. It filters through the foliage, spreads across the water’s surface, blankets the citadel walls, and ultimately merges into the landscape.

In ‘Beneath the Moon’s Canopy’, moonlight acts as a conduit, allowing fragments from different dimensions to surface together. Neither entirely real nor wholly imagined, this suspended state echoes a lingering sensation in the collective subconscious of many Vietnamese urban dwellers—a sense of something once possessed, held in shared memory, yet no longer fully intact.

“Whose boat is moored at the moonlit riverbank? Will it carry the moon back in time tonight?”

The exhibition’s opening will be at 17:00 Jan 16th 2026 then last until Feb 8th 2026.

Lotus Gallery is looking forward to seeing you all at the opening.