In his latest body of work, Dinh Viet transforms the centuries-old art of Vietnamese lacquer painting into a modern-day codex of symbols. Composed of delicate doodles in the form of ancient runes, cuneiform, Greek letters, and mathematical notations, these paintings unfold like whispered messages from an invisible realm. Arranged in grid-like structures or intuitive constellations, the marks appear both systematic and spontaneous, each one carrying the weight of mystery and ritual.

For Dinh Viet, these symbols are not meant to be translated. They serve instead as vessels of contemplation, fragments of a lost or imagined language through which emotion, memory, and philosophy are silently inscribed. This series emerges from his long-standing fascination with harmony; between man and nature, the visible and the hidden, the traditional and the abstract.

Born in 1979 in Hanoi, Dinh Viet has long been recognized for his devotion to Vietnamese lacquer painting. This complex medium, built through layer upon layer of resin, pigment, gold and silver leaf, each polished meticulously by hand, requires both patience and intuition. Viet’s mastery of this process gives his works a radiant depth, where surfaces seem to glow from within and time itself feels suspended in gloss.

In earlier works, Dinh Viet often portrayed nature as an emblem of balance and peace, a visual meditation on happiness rooted in Vietnamese philosophy. His new series continues this exploration in a more conceptual form. The symbols, though abstract, hint at cosmic order and human longing. Some resemble mathematical diagrams, others celestial charts or prayer scripts, each painting a quiet search for clarity in the chaos.

Whether depicting a lotus pond or a field of silent symbols, Dinh Viet’s art remains a gentle but profound invitation; to pause, to reflect, and to find stillness in complexity.