A frontal bust fills the square, the face simplified to clean contours and quiet symmetry while hair and background break into animated fields of red, brown, and gold. Lacquer layers have been applied, cut back, and polished, so warm undertones and gold leaf pulse beneath the surface. The halo like red arc and the drifting highlights create a shallow, luminous space that holds the figure without deep perspective. Line is economical, color is measured, reflection carries the mood.

The work condenses Thao Huynh’s larger project into an intimate scale. Trained in Vietnamese lacquer and focused on contemporary portrayals of women, she uses process to script feeling. The soft modeling of the face speaks to tenderness, the active ground suggests seasonal change, and the glinting leaf turns light into subject. Tradition remains present in material and attire, yet the composition reads as modern, direct, and personal, a portrait of poise set against a surface alive with memory.