Loan Phuong's Road to the Clouds

The "Road to the Clouds" exhibition showcases over 30 lacquer paintings created by artist Loan Phuong over the past four years, on display from now until October 22nd at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association.

Silently admiring the dreamlike world in Loan Phuong's "Road to the Clouds" exhibition - Photo: H.VY

The exhibition opens up a shimmering world of gilded lacquer, where flowers, animals, maidens, and clouds blend together in the rhythm of dreams. It is the virtual world of artist Loan Phuong, where painting helps her heal.

From personal memories to shared dreams

Artist Loan Phuong was born in 1987. Passionate about painting since childhood, she specialized in lacquer painting at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts and then went on to earn a master's degree in fine arts. Due to family responsibilities, raising children, and teaching at the University of Fine Arts, she only returned to creating art in 2021.

Loan Phuong's journey to the clouds began with the shock of losing her father during the pandemic. During the days of isolation, facing the suffocating four walls and the pain of loss, Loan Phuong dreamed of a paradise.

"I started drawing to create my own virtual world. The world I dream of is peaceful and poetic. There is no pain there, only harmony between humans and gentle plants, flowers, and animals."

"Painting has saved me. I feel like I can go out to sea, climb mountains, even fly up into the clouds, living freely amidst nature even when the city is still silent outside..." - Loan Phuong confided.

Although originating from pain, Loan Phuong's paintings are not gloomy or melancholic, but full of vitality and joy. Viewers can easily feel the spirit of rebirth in each bright color, vibrant hue, and graceful, flowing line.

In that world, the image of women shines brightly, sometimes as dreamy young girls, sometimes as symbols of Mother Nature, serene and benevolent. They blend with flowers, plants, and birds, becoming a part of life, creating a space that is both magical and pure...

For Loan Phuong, painting allows her to escape reality, fly into a space of colors, and release the emotions and inner thoughts that constantly haunt her - Photo: H.VY

A gentle and enduring female voice with lacquer

Having been involved with lacquerware for 15 years, Loan Phuong sees it not just as a material but as a memory, a sediment of time. Each polishing session is like engraving into her soul, both painful and sparkling...

When light reflects off gold leaf, silver, or eggshells, the paintings transform as if they are breathing, as if they are alive. Loan Phuong doesn't seek perfection, but a rhythm. For her, painting is like opening a window, where she breathes in freedom and gives it back to the viewer.

Loan Phuong's lacquer paintings meticulously adhere to traditional techniques but possess a modern, decorative spirit. The elaborate and meticulous technique does not detract from the poetic quality of her paintings; instead, it enhances their purity and profound depth.

According to curator and artist Phan Trong Van, using traditional lacquer materials combined with sophisticated techniques and modern inspiration, this series of paintings serves both as a tribute to his father and an expression of gratitude for life.

Journalist Cuong Quach commented: "In Loan Phuong, lacquer painting is not just about nostalgia or technique, but a language of dreams, where women, nature, and beauty coexist."

Journalist and artist Truong Nguyen Nga commented: "It seems she wants to tear apart the shell of prejudice that always binds women, yet still maintain a gentle, dreamy quality, as if living in her own earthly paradise."

The appearance of "Road to the Clouds" also adds a gentle female voice to the flow of contemporary Vietnamese art, where female artists are increasingly present and confident, no longer as objects to be admired but as subjects of creation and storytelling.

HUYNH VY

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/duong-len-may-cua-loan-phuong-20251019100407509.htm