Linh San Talk Event “Autumn eats its leaf out of my hand”

Linh San’s recent works focus on exploring materials from the perspective of examining the relationship between gesture and time. Her pieces often appear simple, sometimes small and fragile, even to the point of being easily overlooked. Yet, the process of making them involves meticulous and enduring gestures, where time becomes an indispensable element.
The talk's title borrows an image from Paul Celan's poem to describe her creative process. In this talk, the artist will share about her ceramic practice over the years, the changes in her approach to the material, from trying to push the material to its limits to simply looking at the material under her hands, over time. She will also speak about her recent work with hair embroidery, reflecting on themes of motherhood and intimate memories. Finally, Linh San will reveal the idea of two new works she plans to create on-site in Nishinari, with resonance from observing the communities here and her site-specific engagement within Cafe Atariya.

Linh San

Linh San is a multidisciplinary artist based in Viet Nam. Linh holds a bachelor's degree in Literature from the Hanoi National University of Education and her practice spans poetry, moving images, and ceramics. In her work, she depicts poetic, plain, and contemplative moments from daily life.

Linh’s literary works often take the form of prose poetry, very much a reflection of her way of thinking—a stream of thoughts and mental images gushing through terrains of narratives and emotions connected via imaginative links. Linh’s poems have appeared in The Margins, Poetry Translation Centre, and various anthologies. Her short films have been screened at Hanoi Goethe-Institut, Thai Nguyen University, and the National Museum of Indonesia, among other places. In 2022, Linh San presented her first solo exhibition, titled “no longer holding a cloud”, at Á Space, Hanoi. She explores ceramics as a dialogue between the artist and the material, pushing its boundaries beyond traditional forms. Her ceramics practice examines the potential of clay, its fusion with other materials and its relationship with the transforming landscapes of craft and matter. She received Prince Claus Seed Awards in 2023 as an emerging artist.

Artist page here