by Vo Le Hong
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Naked ambition: Van Duong Thanh poses next to one of her works. — VNS Photo Sunny Rose | | |
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A load on their shoulders: Women Carrying Rice on a Shoulder Pole, a painting by Thanh. | | |
HCM CITY — Colour has the strongest influence on emotion, according to artist Van Duong Thanh. Her art is not about the tangible but about the abstract. But although the universe is like a fantasy, it does evoke very strong images and feelings.
Her collection of 40 abstract paintings on display at the Sai Gon Rex Hotel in HCM City reflect her worldview.
"My strongest inspiration is the Sarus crane and other animals in the Mekong Delta," Thanh says.
"I love the green of the Delta's submerged fields."
Me Con Tren Canh Dong (Mother and Children in the Field), Bay Seu Duoi Anh Trang (Cranes in the Moonlight), Nhung Nguoi Dan Ba Ganh Gao (Women Carrying Rice on a Shoulder Pole), all on display at A Sense of Homeland, are testimony to this.
The overwhelming theme of Thanh's paintings is joy, whether it is an image of a winter's evening or a rainy afternoon.
For her, dark colours are just a "low musical note in a vivid concert".
"Art is a sublimated minute of a great accumulation."
Considered one of Asia's most talented female artists, Van Duong Thanh grew up in Ha Noi where she studied for 12 years at the Fine Arts College and the Academy of Fine Arts.
She was a researcher at the Institute of Culture in the capital from 1981 to 1987, and now divides her time between Sweden, where she teaches art, and Ha Noi.
The Vietnamese National Museum of Fine Arts in the capital added Thanh's works to its collection when she was just 21.
Since then, many of her works have gone on permanent display at national museums in several other countries including Thailand, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden.
Thanh was born in Phu Yen Province and during the war often had to evacuate to the countryside to hide in tunnels or finding shelter with peasants.
It was during this period that she developed an empathy for the rural way of life and the country's traditions. After the war ended, she completed her formal education at Ha Noi's Fine Arts College in 1980.
She has held many exhibitions in Viet Nam, France, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, the US, and Sweden.
A Sense of Homeland will be on display until June 30 next year. — VNS