'Happy garden' like a fairy tale from Nguyen Thi Dung pottery

For more than 20 years, she has been passionate about pottery and has a special place in the hearts of "Dung pottery" lovers, but it was not until now that Nguyen Thi Dung launched her first exhibition. There, she did not tell anything grand, just meticulously built a "Happy Garden" to express her love for pottery.

Relive the joy of childhood with Nguyen Thi Dung's Nursery space - Photo: H.VY

With Happy Garden , ceramic artist Nguyen Thi Dung is turning the space of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum into a fairy garden filled with joyful cheers.

Immersing in it, viewers seem to relive childhood memories, feeling the simple yet pure joy of watching the land in bloom.

From childhood memories to a happy garden

The exhibition displays more than 200 ceramic works with countless sophisticated details, meticulously arranged into a pleasing ceramic garden, both artistic and full of life.

Here are sleeping kittens, playful little horses, mischievous deer, there are young seedlings, nurseries, flower hills and sparkling blooming flowers… each work is like a living ceramic organism reborn from the earth, happily stretching itself to grow.

The Flower Horses seem to have come out of Nguyen Thi Dung's innocent dream.

Two foreign tourists attentively admire every detail in the work Elephant by Nguyen Thi Dung.

Most impressive is that not only the lovely and delicate appearance, but also the metaphorical beauty in the fragile existence of each living being is fully conveyed in 'Dung pottery'.

Because it is the pottery of a person who loves the craft with all his heart, is diligent and passionate. Pottery of a caring soul who always sees the earth as life, not just a material.

Pottery by the hands of a master is associated with small, simple creations. And the pottery of an artist is always constantly exploring, experimenting, and striving to "go beyond" his own limits.

Artist Nguyen Thi Dung with the Flower Horses in the Happy Garden

Despite reaching a rare level of sophistication, Dung still chooses a neutral path between fine art and handicraft, between innovation and tradition, between sophistication and intimacy. There, she lets earth and fire speak for themselves.

That journey of devoted love for pottery originated from a beautiful childhood in the mountains of Dak Lak , where there was a garden surrounded by shady trees and streams. Little Dung spent all day climbing trees, smelling the scent of grass and often being carried home with jackfruit on a shoulder pole by her mother.

The simple memories are always present in the subconscious, until Nguyen Thi Dung graduated from school, struggled to make a living and then boldly "moved out on her own" to satisfy her passion for creativity, she spent all day working with plants and flowers.

"After a long time of working hard, I realized that when I make pottery, I am as happy as if I were reliving in the garden of my childhood. There, soil turns into flowers, fire turns into sunlight, and hands sow life in each shape of the work.

I love what I do and am happy with my choice of pottery. I just hope that everyone who sees Dung's pottery can feel that happiness!" - Ms. Dung smiled gently.

Feel the joy of life from the Happy Garden

Artist Nguyen Thi Dung with a collector and a work that has just been "ribboned"

Pottery of love and gratitude

For Dung, pottery is an endless love and she always enjoys every moment. But from the perspective of her partner, also ceramic artist Ngo Trong Van, it is a journey of hard work and enthusiasm for more than twenty years.

More than anyone, he understands that pottery is both attractive and difficult, to the point that there is a saying "if you want to harm your friends, ask them to make pottery". But despite being "tortured to the core", he admires her for still persistently practicing her craft day after day, learning about colored glazes, finding new ways to "play" with glazes... to create different and highly difficult works.

The three years of preparation for Happy Garden were filled with countless trials, complex shaped pottery batches that were difficult to fire, fragile, and had to be done over and over again; days of heavy lifting that left one's back broken and unable to stand, but still had to try to finish.

There were times when she failed so much that Dung wanted to give up, but she thought that if she didn't face the risks, she wouldn't be able to overcome her limits. So she continued to challenge herself.

"Pottery has been a hard work for me for more than twenty years, but up to now, all the efforts have been worth it. The happy garden for me is not only an achievement, but also an opportunity for me to express my gratitude to the land, fire and those who have believed in and accompanied me," Nguyen Thi Dung confided.

Admiring the vitality of nature in each ceramic block

Cracks, flowing glaze, rough surfaces… are not considered defects, but the natural soul of pottery, like life itself, sometimes peaceful, sometimes unfinished, but always containing hope for revival.

Painter Nguyen Duy Nhut, who has followed Dung's journey since the early days, feels in her an extraordinary willpower, seeing creativity as breath and pottery as flesh and blood.

From the first years of starting her career in a rented house, before she had time to buy a kiln, the rain blew off the roof, all her dreams were gone with the water, until now she has created her own ceramic world .

Dung remains loyal to the rustic, simple spirit of Vietnamese pottery, but breathes into it a new rhythm, soft, supple and full of vitality.

Dung Pottery is no longer a quiet whisper of the earth but a bright song from the heart of someone who has gone through storms and found peace.

And indeed, in the middle of the noisy city, the Happy Garden seems to open up a peaceful place, where viewers can slow down, listen to the sound of water, the birds, and quietly watch the pottery buds gently moving as if reminding them that life will never stop reviving.

A sleeping calico cat

A lovely Flower Horse for the coming Year of the Horse

The exhibition runs until November 17 at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts.

HUYNH VY

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khu-vuon-hanh-phuc-nhu-co-tich-tu-gom-nguyen-thi-dung-20251109040325736.htm