EN
Tran Minh Thai's first solo exhibition - "Walking in the Mist" opened at Gate Gate Gallery like a door leading viewers into the realm of memories and reality, where wounds do not disappear but lurk, flow, and occasionally sting to remind them of their presence.
Exhibition space "Walking in the Mist" at Gate Gate Gallery
With a background as an architect, Tran Minh Thai chose ceramics as a space for memory, where layers of material are burned, leaving gaps, cracks, and traces like trauma after loss. In 12 sculptures, installations, and photographs, he combines everyday raw materials such as soil, tree roots, wood, rope, fabric, and paper, creating surfaces that are both rough and vibrant, both quiet and chaotic. It is in this contrast that the artist seeks to depict the post-traumatic experience, a gray area where there is no clear boundary between injury and regeneration.
“Not all wounds are visible… They don’t disappear, they become part of the body – like skin, like breath,” Tran Minh Thai shares. “I work with fabric, roots and soil – materials that are both soft and resilient. Sometimes they cover and protect, sometimes they expose and tear. Each work is a surface in tension between roughness and brilliance, between the chaos of emotions and temporary stillness. All carry within them a form of wound – not repeated, not exposed, but existing.”
This is the first solo exhibition of contemporary ceramic artist Tran Minh Thai.
The journey from cover-up to hovering in the gray zone
If viewed individually, each work in “Walking in the Mist” is a personal story with different materials and inspirations. But when placed side by side in the same space, they become an underground chain, a journey to face the wound.
It begins with “Let the grass grow” - a metaphor for covering up. We think that covering up the pain is enough, but it is the covering up that causes the roots to grow deep and crack inside. From the covering up, the journey continues into the “Holy Land” - where the brokenness is revealed. The three works follow each other like three states of a person after an event: broken but still shining, emptiness from deep inside and finally rest after all the brokenness and fatigue.
Let the grass grow
The heart-shaped soil in the Let the Grass Grow artwork is displayed in the bird cage area
After the breakdown, the artist turns over his personal memories to search for “Where the roots sleep”. But the roots are vague, like an empty genealogical box - the protection only keeps the surface, while the depth is still empty. From the personal roots, the journey expands to the collective memory with “Chơn nhau cat navel” - a work containing the silence of an entire generation, where the roots are hidden by dreams of far away land.
Where the roots sleep
Bury the placenta
Next, “The Interrupted Chapter” brings painful images of suppressed voices and unfinished dreams of education. This is no longer a personal wound, but a shared memory of an entire era. And then in “Untitled”, the knots of human life appear - some knots that are forever untied, others that spontaneously unravel under the heat of change.
Three works of the Interrupted Chapter
The journey ends with “The Grey Zone” - a space of floating souls, individuals stripped of their identities, existing only in the fragile whispers of other people’s memories. This is also where the audience confronts themselves: when all borders melt, what is left to cling to?
Gray Zone installation
Through this series of works, Tran Minh Thai does not create a linear “from suffering to healing”, but lets the viewer go through each state: concealment, cracks, ambiguity, interruption, deadlock, suspension. Like in the fog, there is no clear boundary. But it is this ambiguity that gives us the opportunity to calm down, to realize that pain is not an enemy, but a part of the body, like skin, like breath - and still move on.
Space to guide emotions
“Walking in the Mist” is the first solo exhibition of artist Tran Minh Thai, decided after many years of incubation, when Gate Gate Gallery approached his collection and convinced him to open the exhibition based on a professional perspective. Although only operating for three years, Gate Gate Gallery is trusted by long-time collectors and art experts and has become a unique exhibition space.
Many experts and artists attended the first exhibition of artist Tran Minh Thai.
The exhibition space of “Walking in the Mist” was designed by Gate Gate in a colder tone than usual, like a closed box opening to another world, reflecting the spirit of sadness - silent, cold and empty. Neutral lighting, combined with flat blocks close together instead of separate areas, creates a distinctly different feeling compared to previous exhibitions full of natural light or vivid colors. This coldness leads visitors into the exhibition's mental state - a dim gray area, quiet and slightly sad. When visiting alone, small sounds seem to be amplified, even the sound of light footsteps on the floor is clearly heard.
The exhibition space is like a dim gray box, opening up a cold, quiet feeling like walking through a dim gray area.
The bird's nest area is a small but interesting space where the artist displays his works with an echo effect. When the light is adjusted, the heart placed on the glass surface seems to float in the space, stimulating the imagination of visitors. "And that is the role of Gate Gate Gallery - to create an experience for customers and creativity in the artist's display" - Ms. Chloe, Gallery Manager of Gate Gate shared.
