'Happy Garden': A tribute to the earth, to fire, to life

After the exhibition 'Whispering Pottery', artist Nguyen Thi Dung embarked on the project 'Happy Garden' with the message: nothing is impossible, if we love... the land and sow seeds in the land, happiness will blossom and bear fruit.

On the morning of November 8 at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum (97A Pho Duc Chinh, Ben Thanh Ward), artist Nguyen Thi Dung opened the Happy Garden exhibition , with selected works from her love of ceramics. Happy Garden is like a bright, joyful symphony in the mind of a person who has gone through storms.

For over 20 years, Nguyen Thi Dung (member of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association, member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, member of the Saigon Ceramic Club) has been persistently and diligently traveling on her journey of pottery. For her, pottery is not just a job, but a good karma, a great affinity with earth, fire and a steadfast heart for art.

The garden of happiness is like a symphony, joyful with flowers in the mind of a person who has gone through storms.

Photo: MINH NGUYET

Horses, flowers, leaves... are depicted using both traditional and innovative techniques.

Photo: MINH NGUYET

Each object seems to have a soul, conversing with the viewer in a silent but emotional language.

Photo: MINH NGUYET

Each glaze line and each block is meticulously crafted by the talented hands of the artist.

Photo: MINH NGUYET

Graduating from Dong Nai College of Decorative Arts, artist Nguyen Thi Dung entered life like many other young people: both earning a living and wanting to work in the field she studied. But after a series of failed jobs, she and her husband - Ngo Trong Van decided to "go out on their own", embarking on a path where every day they can live true to their emotions, and wholeheartedly pursue their creativity.

"The early days of starting a business were not easy. Living in a rented house, making pottery amidst a myriad of worries, tears often rolled down. One time, when I had just finished drying a batch of pottery and was preparing to save up to buy a kiln, the roof of the house was blown away. It rained, and months of nurturing were washed away by the water. My husband encouraged me to start over again," she emotionally recalled the hardships of her love for pottery.

Artist Nguyen Thi Dung always has a strong love for artistic creation with ceramics.

Photo: NVCC

Happy Garden: feel simple happiness from your own hands

Visiting her Happy Garden at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, viewers will feel that although she remains faithful to the rustic, simple spirit of Vietnamese pottery, she seems to have breathed into it a new rhythm, soft, supple and full of life.

The exhibition not only displays ceramic works, but is also a storytelling space: where each object seems to have a soul, conversing with the viewer in a silent but emotional language. The works are also a selective inheritance; connecting the old heritage with the contemporary breath. Each glaze line, each block contains the story of an artist who is learning to enjoy life; slowing down to feel simple happiness from his own hands.

Artist Nguyen Thi Dung's works always aim at love of life.

Photo: NVCC

Feminine, simple with themes always close to nature, that is the creative style that the artist has shaped for his works.

" Happy Garden , for me, is not just an art exhibition, but also a tribute I want to give to life, to the land, to fire, and to those who have believed in and accompanied me throughout my career," artist Nguyen Thi Dung expressed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khu-vuon-hanh-phuc-loi-tri-an-cho-dat-cho-lua-cho-doi-185251108110016943.htm