With silver and golden leaves carved on dó (poonah) paper, artist Nguyễn Thế Hùng has breathed new life into his oil on canvas paintings in the collection ‘Land of Lost Wanderers’.
By Minh Thu
The collection of 24 pieces of art is part of a journey into mixed media, having a special effect on the audience.
Inspired by nature
Art critic and collector Dương Thu Hằng said it’s like Hùng holds the viewers’ hands, leading them into his mysterious garden.
The paintings all reveal this garden with foliage, dew and mist.
“The highlight of the collection is the way Hùng combines different materials and techniques such as lacquer, oil on canvas and oil on poonah paper,” she said.
“Hùng is not the first person in contemporary Vietnamese art trying this method, but he really moves the audience with his work.”
“He proved that he can master different types of art, he learned well and painstakingly created these artworks.”
This year marks a transformation in Hùng’s artistic vision as he jumped out of his comfort zone and tried new materials such as gold, silver, water colours, lacquer and poonah paper, with the last two being unique materials in traditional Vietnamese fine art.
The artist has used the materials skillfully. Shapes are hidden underneath each other, which cannot be done on anything but poonah paper.
In this collection, small details like hands, longing eyes, and vivid lips play hide-and-seek in Hùng’s work, leaving people to wonder if what they see is really there.
Hằng is determined that while contemplating his paintings, a viewer may feel lost in the world of dew and plants.
“The more I look at his paintings, the more I discover,” Hằng said. “There is an endless world in his paintings.”
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