Perpetual Paintings

In 2021, a flood in New York destroyed most of my artworks and archives. It echoed when my parents fled Vietnam with just a few documents and photos — everything else lost. That erasure led me to question the material permanence of art.

“Perpetual Paintings” emerged from this. Though called “paintings,” these works span digital, photographic, and sculptural forms. Each begins as a digital still-life built from open-source 3D models found in Google’s 3D Warehouse, using random and specific search terms like “terror,” “immigrant,” or “dictator.” The files are arranged in SketchUp and then output as a painting, photo, or both.

Reproducibility is key. The digital file can be shared, viewed from infinite angles, and remade endlessly. In this way, the digital version is richer than the physical. The project also questions rarity and authorship. Unlike the Western model of limited editions, “Perpetual Paintings” is an open edition—anyone can recreate the work, with or without me.

3d Warehouse Link

Left: Breonna Taylor’s Clock
Right: Colin Kaepernick’s Jersey
2025, SketchUp files outputted as archival photographic print
Variable dimensions

Vietnamese Soups
2025, SketchUp files outputted in two-sided photographs
Variable dimensions

Red Dining Table
2025, SketchUp files outputted as 10 modular photographs
Variable dimensions

Perpetual Paintings
2023, installation view and individual paintings at Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City
SketchUp files outputted as oil on canvas paintings

Perpetual Painting
2022, SketchUp files outputted as oil on canvas
10 modular panels
Each canvas 199 x 115 cm