» My Paradise

In My Paradise, Quynh Dong draws on a range of references from Asian cinematic history to explore themes of virtuality, desire and longing. The work begins with a performative gesture, unfolding within a carefully staged miniature set built by the artist’s father. This handcrafted model operates simultaneously as stage, memory device, and narrative frame. Within this constructed world, figures inhabit scenes that emerge like fragments of dream or recollection. The video unfolds in five scenes. In the first, the artist’s parents play the protagonists in a domestic garden setting: the sun rises, a rooster crows, the woman feeds chickens, and the man waters flowers. In the second scene, the woman stands on a bridge watching fish as the man approaches with a parasol; their encounter is welcomed by butterflies. Two swans glide in the foreground, symbolizing love, while a rose in the woman’s hand blooms in time-lapse. The third scene shows the woman applying makeup indoors while the man smokes outside. Together, they walk to a pagoda and kneel before a Buddha statue in prayer. In the fourth scene, they ride horses through a dreamlike landscape, passing beneath a rainbow. The final scene shows the man standing atop a tower, gazing across the terrain, while the woman, seated on the grass, reads messages on her mobile phone. A fish leaps from the water – a brief, poetic rupture. The video is underscored by five original musical compositions, written and performed specifically for the work. Drawing from the traditions of Vietnamese music, the soundtrack lends emotional texture and cultural resonance to the narrative. Here, Dong subtly interweaves elements of mass culture into her artistic language, playfully engaging with perceptions of otherness and the aesthetics of nostalgia.