16/08/2026
T I Ê N L O N G T À N G N O Ã N
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I felt a strange and irresistible sense of urgency, as though a voice kept calling to me:
“Tiên, you must create this piece. Now…”
I did not hesitate, despite the long journey, the rain, and the wind. I still made my way to the pottery kiln to begin creating the work.
Before I started, I lit a stick of incense to honor the Patron Saint of the Craft, asking for his blessing — that my hands would remain steady, that the clay would cooperate, and that the work would not collapse during the making process. With a large structure composed of many interwoven layers of clay, even the slightest imbalance could cause the entire form to collapse.
I created it with every ounce of energy I had.
Layer by layer, the clay was built up. Every curve was shaped by hand, every negative space carefully preserved. There were moments when my body was completely exhausted, yet my hands simply refused to stop.
It felt as though all of my energy was being poured into the work. And when it was finally completed, I felt as if I had placed a great part of my own soul into that mass of earth.
Tiên Long Tàng Noãn depicts an ancient divine dragon concealed within the vast sea, coiling around and protecting the “Noãn” — the seed of life. The dragon has not yet emerged. It does not reveal its power. Instead, it quietly gathers its strength, waiting for the right moment to awaken.
Perhaps that is why, to me, this work is more than simply a ceramic vessel or a sculpture.
It is a journey of faith, love, devotion, and an inexhaustible energy that refuses to surrender to fatigue.
I believe that when an artist truly loves their work, the earth remembers the hands that touched it.
And Tiên Long Tàng Noãn is precisely such a work — born from earth, awakened by love.
