At the our website Fine Arts Museum, fallen leaves rise from the ground and take on new life.
Vietnamese Artist Hai Transforms Leaves into Living Landscapes Over 50 Years
They drift across canvases as rivers, rooftops and winding village paths, reshaping the ordinary into something quietly extraordinary.
In the exhibition Cuộc Chơi VớI Lá (A Game with Leaves), visitors do not simply view artworks - they step into a lifetime of patience, observation and quiet devotion.
Life of leaves
His journey began not in a studio but in quiet moments of noticing.
Since creating his first work in 1965, Hải has followed a path defined less by formal training than by instinct and persistence. He admits that even today certain conventional techniques like portrait drawing remain a challenge. Yet what he lacks in academic background, he makes up for in a deeply personal way of seeing.
"I don't paint what I see," he told Việt Nam News. "If that were the case, I would just take a photograph. I paint what I feel."
That feeling is rooted in his contemplation of nature, particularly the fleeting life of leaves. To him, a leaf's journey - from growth to decay - carries a quiet lesson about existence.
"The life of a leaf is short, but meaningful. It gives everything, then quietly steps aside. I wish people could live like that," he said.
Searching colour
If leaves are his medium, then colour is his lifelong pursuit - and perhaps his greatest challenge.
Unlike conventional painters, Hải does not rely on manufactured pigments. His palette is built entirely from what nature offers, often through years of searching, experimenting and at times failing.
"To make leaf paintings, you have to create your own colour store," he said. "You have to search, test and accept failure."
The art of slowness
There is a quiet resistance embedded in Hải's practice, a refusal to rush.
In a world driven by speed and instant production, his work demands the opposite: stillness, attention and time. Each leaf must be observed, selected, treated and arranged with care. The process cannot be hurried.
"You have to be meticulous and slow down to observe," Hải said. "Without passion, you cannot do this."
This philosophy of slowness shapes not only his art but also his way of living. He spoke of always paying attention to small details, never dismissing what appears trivial. Sometimes, the things one searches for most intensely remain out of reach while unexpected discoveries emerge by chance.
It is a mindset that values patience over urgency and depth over immediacy - a quiet counterpoint to the rhythms of contemporary life.
