Lê Hiền Minh

Lê Hiền Minh (born 1979) is a Vietnamese artist known for employing a Vietnamese traditional handmade paper called Dó to construct large-scale installations. Her work acts as a bridge between contemporary and traditional Vietnamese art and also between modern and historical Vietnamese culture. She currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Vietnam and abroad, including Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi, Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh Museum of Fine Arts in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Fukuoka, Japan, Incheon Women Artist Biennale in Incheon, South Korea, Spinnerei in Leipzig, Germany, Sculpture Expanded by the Association of Finnish Sculptors in Helsinki, Finland, Wedeman Gallery in Massachusetts, USA. She has also lectured at multiple public institutions, including San Jose Museum of Art in San Jose, USA and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Fukuoka, Japan. Lê Hiền Minh was born in Hanoi, North Vietnam in 1979. In 1998, she studied traditional lacquer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts. Upon graduating, she moved to America to attend the Art Academy of Cincinnati and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2004. Lê Hiền Minh has been using Vietnamese traditional handmade paper called Dó as her primary art-making material for two decades. Dó paper is made from the bark of the Dó tree and is used to make woodcut folk prints called Đông Hồ. This type of folk print has existed since the 11th century during the reign of the Lý Dynasty. She uses this paper to create large-scale sculptural installations, a departure from the traditional use of Dó paper in Vietnamese art. Minh describes her intention "As the Dó paper tradition becomes a relic, I am exploring ways to reinvent it as a contemporary art making material. It is my hope that the use of Dó paper in my artwork will contribute to cultural sustainability.