There are some exhibitions where, the moment you step inside, something settles deep within you. Nhu Xuan Hua’s debut London solo exhibition, “Of Walking on Fire,” falls precisely into this category.
French-Vietnamese artist Nhu Xuan Hua works at the intersection of fashion and fine art photography; however, this exhibition descends into a much deeper, far more personal layer of that intersection. Occupying two galleries at the Autograph gallery in Shoreditch, this body of work was born from Hua reimagining archive photographs belonging to her family’s early years in Vietnam and Europe. The result: images that oscillate between the familiar and the foreign, swaying on the boundary of reality and dream, resembling sometimes a mourning ceremony, sometimes a ritual of awakening.
The artist grew up in Paris as the child of immigrant parents who were forced to flee the Vietnam War (1955–1975). This condition is not a simple biographical note for her; it is the motor force behind her entire artistic inquiry. The question Hua poses is this: What is transmitted between generations, and what is silently muted? Is it the grasp of a mother’s hand, or an untold trauma? Is it a family mythology constructed in the aftermath of war, or the voids within that very mythology?
In the family photographs she alters through digital manipulation, figures blend into one another, melting away, dissolving, and re-forming. Tension sits beneath scenes that appear to be intimate; handshakes never become definitive, eyes do not meet—or they lock for far too long. These photographs demonstrate wordlessly, yet with absolute clarity, how diasporic memory can be shattered, blurred, and displaced.
While Gallery I tracks the traces of lost conversations and historical voids, Gallery II is structured as a space of renewal. Here, Hua maps the lineage of mother figures in her life and leans on the Vietnamese spiritual tradition of Đạo Mẫu—the Cult of the Mother Goddesses that honors feminine deities connected to nature. Alongside the photographs, shelves and objects inspired by Vietnamese temples, as well as painted shadows, submerge the exhibition space into a ritualistic atmosphere.
“Of Walking on Fire” stands as one of the most powerful current expressions of Autograph’s mission, spanning over 35 years, to support photography addressing race, identity, and representation. The gallery commissioned nine new works from Hua for this exhibition; two of these will enter Autograph’s permanent collection. Accessible free of charge in London, this exhibition is one of this season’s absolute must-visits.
Exhibition Details:
- Venue: Autograph, Rivington Place, Shoreditch, London, UK
- Artist: Nhu Xuan Hua
- Exhibition Title: Of Walking on Fire
- Closing Date: September 19, 2026
- Institutional Acquisition: Two newly commissioned works to enter Autograph’s permanent collection.
