Cowcycle

 “Con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp” (“The buffalo is the head of family fortune”) is a well-known Vietnamese proverb. 

The bicycle, in northern Vietnam during the 1970s–80s, was still a family treasure.

The Cowcycle became an original design and my personal symbol of my Vietnam-ness: an animal alive and grounded, resilient, yet gaining momentum as it moves forward with industrial technology. 

The idea came while sketching a friend’s bicycle — halfway through the back wheel, the shape of a buffalo’s head appeared. 

From there, for 2 years, I developed a full body of work: about 30 oil and acrylic paintings, plus a sculpture made from a rusted bicycle.

A singular character allows me to experiment with cubism, surrealism, realism and learned welding.