Hoa Dung Clerget

"Chinoiseries" is a series of hybrid works between painting and sculpture, using gel nail polish. Inspired by visual clichés (waterfalls, Asian female bodies), these small pieces explore the aesthetics of objects and decors prized by the Vietnamese diaspora, as well as the reality of women working in nail salons.

Hoa Dung Clerget (b. 1985, France) lives and works in London. She creates installations and objects that delve into the labour of immigrant women, the Nail Art subculture, and the micro-societies found in nail salons. Her work explores the popular and kitschy aesthetic of Nail Art and oriental objects, revealing all the ambiguity present in the gaze, taste, and notion of exoticisation. Recent solo exhibition: Durian Revolution, Studio Chapple, London (2023). Recent group exhibitions include: A Landscape of Chance, SLQS Gallery, London (2024); Beauty Tech Art Spa, Cornershop, London (2023), Positions, Alma Pearl, London (2023), The Expanse in-between, Grove Collective, London (2022); Un/Sense, Christie’s, London (2022); Paradise, Harlesden High Street, Lecce, Italy (2022), Mothering, Kupfer Project, London (2022)