Nguyen Phuoc Quy Thanh, a resident in Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City, is hoping his art will give the city the boost it needs to overcome the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Thanh specializes in making artworks from used buttons and painting vivid images on medical face masks as a way of heightening COVID-19 awareness in the community. 

Thanh’s work is not just about battling COVID-19. 

The 28-year-old chemical engineering student uses buttons as a medium to highlight the dangers of plastic waste.

Each of Thanh’s posters goes through a series of stages before being released to the public. 

First, he brainstorms what ideas and messages he wants to share. 

Next, he sketches the poster, chooses suitable plastic buttons and beads, and harmonizes colors. 

Lastly, he frames the poster.

While some of his smaller works take two to three hours, larger pieces can take as long as four to five days.

“I try to share useful messages with people amid the COVID-19 pandemic so that I can remind them to be more careful,” explained Thanh.

“I gave some of my works to frontline medical workers as a way of showing my gratitude to them.

"I hope that all of us can stand with each other in the fight against the virus so we can put the pandemic under control and return to normal life."

Ho Chi Minh City has recorded over 137,000 local infections in this fourth wave, which broke out in Vietnam on April 27.

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