Portraits of 21 individuals selected to represent Vietnamese and Italian women are on display at the multimedia exhibition "Ontology", which runs until May 7 at Casa Italia, No.18 Le Phung Hieu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Vietnamese artist Le Khanh at the “Ontology” exhibition. Photo: PSI

The exhibition is organized by Vietnamese makeup artist PSI with the support of the Bat Trang Museum and the Italian Embassy in Hanoi to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Italy.

The exhibition "Ontology" is considered the first solo exhibition of a make-up artist in Vietnam, presented by PSI, whose real name is Pham Ha Phuong.

Inspiring female figures in the exhibition include folk artist Le Khanh, singer Le Cat Trong Ly, Italian architectural creative director Annamaria, Italian research engineer Viviana, and others.

According to the organizers, "Ontology" is a multimedia exhibition that uniquely blends visual arts and modern technology, allowing the public to interact directly with each character at the event.

Vietnamese PSI artist at work in the exhibition. Photo courtesy of the artist

The exhibits were created by the artist PSI using life-casting techniques, in which three-dimensional plaster molds are taken from living human bodies.

The 21 characters are directly cast and then transformed into works of art using various materials such as plaster, ceramics, lacquer, and so on.

According to artist PSI, each person's being contains many big things, but it can also be very small things.

"A 'being' always has two indispensable elements: the 'body' and the 'substance'," she said. "Each individual can have one or more different 'beings' that contribute to the difference and diversity of the individual."

The exhibition is a cross between the art of makeup and the art of masking in Venice, Italy.

The women involved in this project, regardless of age or background, have one thing in common: they all possess their own beauty and inspire positivity.