Hello. Thanks for visiting.

My name is Lêna. I live and work in Saigon, Vietnam.

My work moves back and forth between various cultures and values, sometimes comparing and contrasting to better understand the socio-political make-up of the society I live in and how that shapes the way we move forward as a whole. I’m deeply interested in nature, our position as a part of it and a separation from it, our reliance on it, our altercation of it, our respect for it as well as our disrespect.

The process of making work for me is a process of forming questions and articulating yearnings. How do intangible aspects of life, such as faith, death, and dreams influence our behaviours and perceptions? What is the impact of rapid development on the relationship between humans and nature? How has history shape the present and what of the present forecasts the future?

Above’s my official statement, though I find talking in general terms really difficult and vague. I’ve been fortunate that in early 2024 Stephanie Bailey wrote a really great introduction to my practice through specific works on Delfina Foundation’s page. If you’re interested, you can read it here.

While there are consistent threads running through my practice, there are many aspects that do not fit neatly into some sort of thematic or structural logic. This is often the exciting bits that push me to learn, experiment, and evolve to hopefully arrive at a porous place that contains both clarity, fluidity, and humor.

SOLO EXHIBITION
2024 Blue Filaments, Galerie BAQ, Paris, France
2018 Proliferation, Mansfield East Asian Center, Wesleyan University, CT, USA
2016 Flat Sunlight, The Factory Contemporary Art Center, HCMC, Vietnam
2015 A Site Between, Next Art Tainan, Taiwan
2012 Voracious Embrace, organized by San Art at the HCMC Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam

GROUP EXHIBITION
2024 Nurture Gaia, Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
In Absence, Presence, Nguyen Art Foundation, Saigon, Vietnam
2023 Cyphering, Vibrating, Emanating, screenings & performance, Delfina Foundation, London, UK
Monographs, Asian Film Archive Oldham Theatre Foyer, Singapore
2022 Flowing Moon Embracing Land, Jeju Biennale, South Korea
Boundary Conditions, group show, mM Artcenter, South Korea
Illuminated Curiosities, group show, Nguyen Art Foundation, Saigon, Vietnam
2021 Posthuman Ensemble, group show, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea
2020 Am I Superwoman, group show, San Art, Saigon, Vietnam
No Cai Bum, group show, Diem Phung Thi Exhibition house, Hue, Vietnam
Flat Sunlight (film), screening So Far, So Right, Taipei Contemporary Art Center, Taiwan
2018 March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2017 Flat Sunlight (film), Screening at Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin,
La Gaite Lyrique, Paris and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
2016 Borderless, Skyline with flying people 3, Mam Art, Hanoi Women’s Museum, Vietnam
2015 Sacred Water, Image Ark Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2014 Disrupted Choreographies, group show, the Carré d’Art Museum, Nîmes, France
2013 Foreign Bodies, group show, The Wellcome Collection, London, UK

GRANTS | AWARDS
2024 Finalist for the 6th VH AWARD
2017 Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Arts Grant
2016 AXA Grant - Collaboration with the Zoonosis team
at the Oxford Clinical Research Unit HCMC Vietnam
2014-2015 Wellcome Trust International Engagement Award for Sacred Water
2003-2007 Freeman Asian Scholarship, 4-year merit-based full scholarship to Wesleyan University

RESIDENCIES
2024 Online residency at eyebeam.org
2023 Delfina Foundation, London, UK
2020 NTU CCA Residencies, Singapore
2018 March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2018 Wesleyan University East Asian Department, CT, USA
2013 Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Art in Global Health, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, HCMC, Vietnam
2010 Mino Paper Art Village, Gifu, Japan

EDUCATION
2003–2007 B.A. (High Honors), Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
2005-2006 Doshisha University, Associated Kyoto Program, Kyoto, Japan

lenabui (@) gmail . com