FOST Gallery is delighted to announce its inaugural participation in the 10th anniversary edition of Asia NOW with a solo presentation by Phi Phi Oanh.

Palimpsest: Capriccio (Slides 1 – 8) and Palimpsest: Inalienable Parts (Slides 1 – 8) are the latest iterations of the on-going series. It is the result of Oanh’s extensive research in and innovative experimentation on Sơn mai (Vietnamese lacquer painting), specifically her exploration on how optimise the translucent qualities of lacquer and to ‘dematerialise’ the medium. ‘Lacquer skins’, lacquer paintings on glass slides, are used with ‘Lacquerscopes’ to project the paintings onto translucent screens. The resulting projections of these diminutive ‘Lacquerskins’ reveal details that would otherwise be unseen. They are reminiscent of images viewed through a telescope or a microscope that present a macro or micro view of a universe invisible to the naked eye. This series touches on a number of elements — including the manipulation of visible light, a constant shift in scale and perspective, and deference to what is seen through an apparatus or a machine – a contemplation on how we interact with reality in the present.

As a companion to its presentation of the Palimpsest works, FOST Gallery will also be showing Vietnamese lacquer paintings from the Capriccio series, drawing on the genre of composing archaeological ruins and other architectural elements in fictional and fantastical combinations.