Early years in Tuyên Quang and an artistic upbringing
In Hanoi's fine arts community, painter Trần Công Dũng (born 1969) is widely known by the nickname “Dũng Dị” for his independent visual style. Behind that nickname is a childhood shaped by family music and painting in northern Vietnam.
He is the son of late composer Trần Công Khanh, author of the song “Đêm trăng sông Lô” (Moonlit Night on the Lô River). Alongside music, his father painted landscapes and people of Tuyên Quang, introducing young Dũng to drawing and colour from an early age.
Growing up in Tuyên Quang town during lean post-war years, he remembers carrying water with his mother and neighbours sharing bowls of rice. Those everyday memories of rural life later became a recurring thread throughout his paintings.
“Images of my hometown remain a quiet memory of difficult years filled with kindness. Those people, courtyards, and old household objects naturally find their way into my work.”
In 1985, he entered the Central College of Music and Fine Arts. After graduating, he returned to Tuyên Quang and supported himself by painting signboards and portraits during the day while painting his own compositions at night.
After his family relocated to Thái Bình in 1988, he prepared for the entrance examination and was admitted to the Lacquer Department at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts in Hanoi.
From woodcut printmaking to Vietnamese lacquer
Before focusing full-time on Vietnamese lacquer (sơn ta), Trần Công Dũng worked extensively in woodcut printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. As a young graduate in Hanoi, he carved small woodblock prints sold to international travellers for 20–30 USD to fund larger lacquer panels.
His woodcut works—such as Mốt, Hưng phấn, Bình minh, Gió thổi, and Thịnh vượng—were exhibited across more than a dozen galleries in Hanoi's Old Quarter. The graphic discipline of woodcut carving gave him a crisp sense of line and positive–negative space, which he later carried into multi-layered lacquer painting.
Two recurring themes became closely associated with his studio work:
Century-Old Wooden Doors Series:
Painting directly onto weathered traditional wooden doors, preserving the natural grain and cracks of the timber beneath layers of lacquer.
Working Bicycles Motif:
Depicting everyday street bicycles carrying goods through Hanoi with warmth and graphic clarity.
Bringing lacquer and shell inlay into everyday objects
While Vietnamese lacquer is often reserved for large gallery panels, Trần Công Dũng wanted traditional materials—woodcarving, lacquer, mother-of-pearl inlay, and eggshell—to be part of everyday life.
He explains: “In lacquer work, the size of the panel is not the most important thing to me; what matters is the beauty of each piece.” Alongside large paintings collected in Vietnam and abroad (including auctions at Area 75 Art & Auction), he hand-paints and inlays small decorative plates, boxes, vases, and carved wooden fish.
At Trang Studio – Lacquer Village in Chuyen My, his work as Art Director centers on two signature collections:
Hand-Inlaid Wooden Lacquer Fish:
Carved natural wood fish shapes treated as miniature canvases, combining mineral pigments (indigo, vermilion, ochre, abalone teal) with sea snail shell scales and crackled eggshell inlay.
Round Lacquer Plaques & 12 Zodiac Animals:
Minimalist lotus blossoms in vermilion-dyed eggshell, mother-of-pearl butterflies on textured amber lacquer, and the 12 Zodiac animals (Snake, Horse, Monkey, Goat, Tiger) finished in silver leaf.
Opening the studio doors to travellers and young makers
Over the past decade, Trần Công Dũng has opened his workbench to international visitors and young Vietnamese students who want to understand how traditional lacquerware is made.
Working alongside co-founder Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang and master artisan Nguyễn An Định (40 years' experience) at Trang Studio – Lacquer Village in Chuyen My Commune, Hanoi, he designs the wooden base boards used in the 2.5-hour and 4-hour workshops and in the take-home DIY Kits.
“What I hope for most is that more people—especially young people and international visitors—can touch natural lacquer, eggshell, and mother-of-pearl with their own hands, whether at our studio bench or through a DIY Kit at home.”
Artist Quick Facts — Trần Công Dũng
- Full Name
- Trần Công Dũng (Nickname: Dũng Dị | Artwork signature: T.C. DUNG)
- Born
- 1969 in Tuyên Quang, Vietnam (Son of late composer Trần Công Khanh)
- Education
- Central College of Music and Fine Arts (1985); Lacquer Department – Vietnam University of Fine Arts
- Mediums
- Vietnamese lacquer (sơn ta), mother-of-pearl & sea snail shell inlay, crackled eggshell inlay, woodcut printmaking, sculpture, ceramics
- Selected Works
- Sen tàn, Hội làng, Mốt, Hưng phấn, Bình minh, Gió thổi, Thịnh vượng, Wooden Doors Series, Bicycles Series, Wooden Lacquer Fish & 12 Zodiac Round Plaques
- Current Role
- Co-Founder & Art Director at Trang Studio – Lacquer Village (Chuyen My Commune, Hanoi)
Make your own lacquer piece using base boards designed by Artist Trần Công Dũng.
Trang Studio is open daily from 08:00 to 18:00 in Chuyen My mother-of-pearl inlay and lacquer village, Hanoi (45–50 minutes from central Hanoi).