Deconstructing and Resurrecting Nature with Artist Duy Anh Nhan Duc

To see more of his art, follow @duyanhnhanduc on Instagram. For more stories from the French-speaking community, check out @instagramfr.

(This interview was conducted in French.)

Before sculptor Duy Anh Nhan Duc (@duyanhnhanduc) deconstructs nature, every plant included in a piece is patiently examined. “I put myself at its level,” says the self-taught artist based in Paris. “Whether it’s grass or clover, I will get down on the ground to observe it.” All different plants are used in his sculptures, but his heart leans toward the dandelion. Many people consider it a weed or a nuisance, but from its delicate seed head, Duy Anh can create a soft mandala-like sculpture or the fur of an enormous bear. “It’s a plant that I have wanted to observe and work with since I was very young,” says Duy Anh, who has always been drawn to the dandelion’s fleeting beauty. “It is in dissecting them and rearranging them that inspiration comes,” he says.