» The Human Conditions series

The Human Condition series stems from Le Quy Tong’s observations of the human journey to overcome pressure, discrimination, and stigma in search of freedom, knowledge, and hope within an increasingly polarized world. Continuing his method of sourcing images from mass media and archives, the artist decontextualizes them, then reconstructs them into new visual compositions – simultaneously familiar and hazy, opening the door to infinite interpretations. To Tong, the artwork functions as an interwoven surface of memory, where fragmented images, ranging from historical iconography and nature to human figures and architecture – constantly disintegrate and overlap. Tropical landscapes, containers, makeshift huts, a sword-wielding deity, or a group of dancers – all appear as vestiges rather than clear subjects. No longer serving as narratives or representations, they collide and blur amidst color washes and visual effects, evoking a sense of continuous movement of distorted signals. It is as if a digital image is glitching, a computer’s memory is being re-encoded, or a manuscript is being erased and overwritten. The series, therefore, does not recreate specific contexts or time-space, but instead places the viewer in a state of constant decoding: between lingering afterimages, concealed truths, and realities that are being rewritten.