Duong’s current exploration focuses on latex, how it melds and converges with rice paper and various fabrics to create deliberate and unexpected marks. He paints the front and back, working through and working over the diverse surface to create an otherworldly substrate.
“These substrates sometimes resemble a tactile heirloom, akin to a piece of history passed down through generations, while at other times, it takes on a performative, skinlike function, serving as a vessel into my intimate DNA."
Latex holds a complex web of connotations deeply rooted in the historical dynamics of rubber plantations during the era of French colonization in Vietnam. Moreover, latex embodies a queer individual's experience, evoking sexual fantasies and intimacy.
“Laden with symbolism, this glue-like substance acts as a signifier and protagonist, fusing together materials of importance in my life to help shape and contextualize my identity and ancestral past.”
The motif of a door has recently emerged, representing access, or inaccessibility, border control, and division. Drawing inspiration from the stroke composition of Chinese characters, Duong contemplates deconstructing the structural elements of the door frame in relation to breaking down the strokes of a character and its meaning. Through this dismantling process, he critiques power dynamics and access within the identity of a nation, particularly in the context of growing tensions between different ethnicities.