Minh-Lan Tran's Abstract Paintings Explore Language, Self-Immolation, and Geological Phenomena

Minh-Lan Tran produces expansive abstract artworks that reflect volcanic and geological events through striking contrasts of maroon, ocher, and umber. Her pieces, such as No heart bone but let it break (2024), feature rich red areas that evoke open wounds, while Reversed Entropy (2024) blends hidden prayer sheets and stamps beneath layers of rust and charcoal. Originally from Hong Kong, Tran was raised in Los Angeles and Paris before finishing her studies in the UK, a journey that has influenced her complex relationship with language. She starts by writing text on canvas, then layers paint to obscure it, likening this process to "discovering an underground world" where meaning surfaces through stratification. Her exploration of self-immolation, particularly the 1963 protest by Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức against Ngô Đình Diệm's anti-Buddhist regime, inspires the Promethean energy in her concealed writings. The gestural aspects of her work merge into forms that fluctuate between apocalyptic and primordial, violent and generative, delving into themes of transformation amid destruction. Tran's diverse background, moving between Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Paris, and the UK, deeply influences her artistic interpretation of language and meaning. The looming, amorphous shapes in her paintings seem to resonate with the sounds of roaring flames and crackling rock through their vibrant color interactions.