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Dreamland in an Attic
After years of visiting art exhibitions both domestically and internationally, Graya Tieu – co-founder of Êmm Soulful Art – has always harbored the desire to create a space where dreams take on a clear form, brought to life, and realized, even if only in paintings. “I hope that when people come here, they can feel freedom in their souls, as well as freedom in this dreamlike space. No matter who they are, everyone has dreams, and I hope that 'Dreamland' will be the starting point for each person's journey to their own dreamland,” she shared.
That idea gradually became clearer when Graya Tieu had the opportunity to meet Tuan Pham and Thu Le. Although their styles differed, the works of all three shared a bright color palette and positive energy. From the desire to place these three worlds in one space, Graya Tieu began to envision Dreamland as a shared place – an attic filled with light and color. There, art no longer resembled a distant "sanctuary," but became a safe room where anyone could enter.
The Room of Dreams
Instead of being held in a standard gallery, over 40 works by Graya Tieu, Tuan Pham, and Thu Le are actually displayed in the attic of an old house in the heart of Saigon. From the glass windows, viewers can look out at the old rooftops, green trees, distant parks, and listen to the bustling sounds of traffic echoing from the street. This space creates a gentle interplay between dream and reality, between the hurried pace of city life and the slow, introspective rhythm of the human spirit.
The Dreamland space is decorated with holographic colors and soft, ethereal lighting.
The attic is decorated simply but meticulously, with white walls interspersed with colorful silk fabrics and glass windows that flood with natural light, along with gently reflected holographic hues. This restrained arrangement makes the Dreamland an accessible space. There, viewers don't need academic knowledge of painting, nor complex deciphering techniques; they only need to bring their own emotions to enter and experience it.
In the small space of the attic, each artwork seems to have a life of its own, nurtured by the artist's dream.
A dreamlike realm of silence and emptiness that needs to be filled.
In Tuan Pham's "Dreamy Realm," viewers encounter a stillness like a deep breath. Working in a field unrelated to painting, facing stressful numbers for over nine hours a day, Tuan turned to painting as a way to "disconnect" from the computer screen and the pressure of calculations. For him, painting is a state that is both dreamy and free – where time slows down and emotions are heard.
Tuan Pham's works often feature a "hole" on the right side – the location of his heart when viewed from his own reflection. This represents an inner void he is always aware of, and painting is his way of seeking fulfillment. Painting becomes a switch, not only for him but also for the viewer, allowing them to temporarily escape the pressures of reality and find balance.
The work Past - Present - Future
Tuan uses watercolors in a serene style, often painting in sets to depict the journey of filling the heart. The trilogy, Past - Present - Future, is inspired by Buddhism, with cloud and lotus motifs, telling the story of a flower: from unbloomed, to just beginning to bloom, and the aspiration to fully blossom and spread its fragrance in the future.
In the Porcelain duo – Acceptance, he uses daisies, cherry blossoms, and the characteristic porcelain color palette – blue, white, and gold – to speak of fragility and vulnerability. Life is always full of choices: some choices lead to heartbreak, and others to brilliance. Sometimes, there are many choices, yet the heart remains empty; and sometimes, just one choice, if it's what we truly desire, will fill the heart.
Porcelain - Acceptance
Other works such as *Scent of Spring*, *My Vine*, *To Sleep Under the Wild Lilies*, and *The Screen* further expand on that dreamlike realm, where people confront the emptiness of the modern world and yearn for inner nourishment.
To sleep under the wild lilies
The Screen
A land of dreams, freedom, memories, and adventures.
Graya Tiêu's Dreamland unfolds with sun-drenched roads, vast skies, verdant mountains, and nameless lands. She doesn't paint realistic landscapes but rather captures lingering emotions from memories, from real journeys to places that exist only in the imagination but possess a soothing power.
It could be the final moment of a trip to Japan, the scene that flashed through her mind before boarding the plane and closing out a gap year. It could also be a trip to snow-covered South Korea, where the cold of the landscape contrasted with the inner warmth of having a companion. Or it could be a sunset at the edge of the world – when darkness enveloped the mountains, rocks, and vegetation, the sea darkened, and the sky swirled with shades of yellow, orange, pink, and purple in its most brilliant moment under the twilight.
Among Graya Tieu's works, the painting of the house in the clouds, titled Heaven Pink Haus, is one of the most relatable "dreams." It's a childhood dream, beginning with the innocent question: could humans travel and build shelters in the clouds? That dream is realized on the canvas with a pink house, a sun-drenched terrace, shady green trees above, and clusters of blooming flowers along both sides, like a gentle haven for the dream to reside.
Heaven Pink House
In Dream Land, Graya Tiêu envisions the "land of dreams" as a remote island in the vast ocean, isolated from the mainland and the noise of everyday life. The island is enveloped by a giant cloud, above which stretches of color across the sky, each representing a dream. These streaks of light overlap, intertwine, and reflect onto the sea surface in shimmering patches of color, then bounce back up into the white clouds, leaving trails of light like lingering traces of dreams.
Dream Land - the land of dreams in Graya Tieu's imagination.
A dreamlike realm of innocence seen through the eyes of a mother.
Thu Le's "Dreamy Land" has a different tone: quiet, gentle, and illuminating the dark areas with a small light. She paints during short breaks while caring for her child – when the child was one month old, three months old, and then one year old. Each brushstroke is a way to retain herself, the dreamy woman before becoming a mother, while simultaneously capturing the serene joy of holding her child in her arms.
Little Mai - a work by artist Thu Le
Mai's room in the Dreamland space.
As the author of the illustrated book "My Saigon," which won the National Book Award (Category B), Thu Le brings to "Dreamland" the image of little Mai – a girl with big eyes, long eyelashes, a round face, and a clear gaze. Little Mai appears in everyday moments: sleeping with her cat, learning to swim, sitting down to eat, and playing among a flock of white ducks.
Through colors and imagery, Thu Le invites viewers to look at life through "childlike eyes"—a compassionate, gentle, and innocent perspective that adults often unintentionally lose on their journey to adulthood.
The Dreamscape of Soul doesn't attempt to define what a dream is. The exhibition simply opens a space for each person to find their own answer. Taking place from December 20th to 25th, 2025 at Unihub Gallery, 130 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Xuan Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, The Dreamscape of Soul not only displays artwork but also allows viewers to take home art prints, postcards, or stickers as a way to keep a piece of their dream for themselves.
