Franco-Vietnamese artist Bao Vuong is renowned for his monochrome oil paintings of the sea. In his series entitled ‘The Crossing’, he tells the story of his family’s flight from Vietnam after the war. These paintings bring us back to our strength, to our ‘inner light’ in the face of life’s dark moments.

For this special edition of Asia NOW, Bao is presenting six new paintings that continue his artistic and poetic research, tinged with spirituality. One of the paintings, in the shape of a large fan, is inspired by his days as a child waiting for customers in his parents’ restaurant, during which he would spend hours contemplating traditional paintings and Asian landscapes in silver mother-of-pearl on a black lacquer background.

In two other works, Bao recalls his past when, incredulous, he wondered about the rituals of the ancestors, in particular about the silver or gold papers (hàng mã) that were burnt to honour the deceased and to ask for their blessing. It is these votive elements that Bao is now reappropriating in these two paintings, shedding a new light on his paintings, and giving new meaning to the evocation of these nocturnal crossings.