HIỀN HOÀNG

Her artistic practice investigates how matter records violence, care, and memory. By combining scientific instruments with intimate observation, Hoàng develops innovative methodologies that reveal material transformations as forms of witnessing. Her work is deeply informed by collaborations with scientists and technologists, reflecting on the paradoxical role of technology as both a tool for understanding and a force that distances us from nature.

Artistic Practice & Themes

Central to Hoàng’s multidisciplinary practice are explorations of migration, displacement, and the lasting traces of colonialism embedded in landscapes and human bodies. Her projects engage with themes of transformation, resilience, and the complex relationship between humanity and the natural world. She investigates how violence and displacement—whether personal, political, or ecological—leave indelible marks on both land and consciousness.

Notable works include:

• “Across the Ocean” (2023) – Examining familial and political trauma through archival materials and performative installations; finalist for the Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles
• “Scent from Heaven” (2023) – Combining scientific methodologies (CT and EEG) with immersive VR to explore the suffering and transformation of the Agarwood tree; recipient of an Art Grant from Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media
• “Garden of Entanglement” (2024) – Using sonification to reveal trees’ vibrational lives; winner of the prestigious Foam Paul Huf Award in 2024
• “Asia Bistro – Made in Rice” (2019-2021) – Challenging stereotypes against Asian immigrants through food symbolism and unconventional materials, featured at Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022

Major Recognition

In 2024, Hoàng received the prestigious Paul Huf Award, which led to her first institutional solo exhibition at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam in 2025, titled “Garden of Entanglement.” Her interdisciplinary approach has garnered international recognition, supported by grants from the European Commission, Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media (Kulturbehörde), and the Kunstfond Foundation.

Exhibition History

Hoàng’s exhibitions have been featured at leading international venues including:

• Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam
• Les Rencontres d’Arles
• CentroCentro Cibeles, Madrid
• Epica Fundacion, Barcelona
• CAPA Center, Budapest
• Kunsthaus Hamburg
• VCCA Vietnam

Current Project: “Memory of the Wound” at DECK Singapore

In January 2026, as part of Singapore Art Week, Hiền Hoàng presents “Memory of the Wound” at DECK Photography Art Centre in Singapore (5–26 January 2026). This significant exhibition reflects on the entangled histories between beauty and destruction, and explores how nature remembers what we choose to forget[7].

The installation brings together fragments from her most recent works—Scent from Heaven and Garden of Entanglement—alongside new materials gathered during her residency at DECK. Through video, metal prints, and organic matter collected from the surrounding Singapore environment, the exhibition explores how trees and landscapes carry traces of human presence: from the physical wounds of cultivation to the invisible scars left by data, memory, and care.

“Memory of the Wound” exemplifies Hoàng’s signature approach of blending aesthetic beauty with historical consciousness. The work invites viewers to consider landscapes as witnesses to history, holding beauty, destruction, and care in equal measure. As part of a citywide celebration of visual storytelling at Singapore Art Week, the exhibition offers a poetic pause that challenges perceptions of how we relate to the natural world and how art can open new ways of sensing entangled memories.

Artistic Philosophy

Hoàng’s practice is characterised by pushing the boundaries of perception through diverse media—from experimental films to immersive installations—engaging viewers in emotive landscapes and deep introspection. Her work operates at the intersection of personal experience, scientific inquiry, and collective memory, creating spaces where technology, nature, and human emotion converge. Through meticulous research and artistic experimentation, she reveals the poetry embedded within material transformation, inviting audiences to witness and reconsider their relationship with the natural world and historical consciousness.

Ocula | 2026