The man who "breathed life" into the rocks of Thất Sơn.

- Bay Nui stone paintings are a type of painting that uses granite from the Bay Nui region of An Giang province. The creator of this unique type of stone painting is Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam (born in 1967, residing in Cai Dau town, Chau Phu district).

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam is a music teacher at Cai Dau Secondary School, as well as a musician, poet, and member of the Provincial Federation of Literature and Arts Associations. Passionate about art, besides playing music, Mr. Nam also writes poetry, prose, and calligraphy. However, he is an outsider to the field of painting, yet his stone paintings have amazed his friends with their sharpness, vibrancy, and meticulous detail. His first stone painting, made from Bay Nui granite, was created in 2006. In subsequent years, he completed numerous works of calligraphy, landscapes, and portraits using only black and white stone.

Recounting his journey into the art of stone painting, Mr. Nam shared: “I always wondered why the stones from my hometown were only used in construction or for making mortars, and not yet used to create works of art. Thinking about that, I tried using stones for sculpting but failed. After that, I continued to research art products made from stone. It wasn't until I saw the precious stone paintings of Luc Yen that I came up with the idea of ​​using An Giang stones to make paintings.” Once he had the idea, Mr. Nam began researching stone painting methods but couldn't find any instructional materials, so he decided to do it himself. Taking advantage of his free time during summer vacations, Mr. Nam traveled to many mountainous areas in Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts and Chau Doc city… to find materials for his paintings.

Mr. Nam recounted: “Because the granite in An Giang doesn't sparkle like gemstones, I decided to choose black and white as the main colors for my paintings. However, finding pure black or white stones wasn't easy. I went to many places to collect stones of suitable color, then envisioned the work I needed to do and created the tools for each stage of the painting process.” Painting a picture is already very laborious, but making paintings from stone materials is even more so. After finding stones of the desired color, Mr. Nam crushed them into small pieces, put them in a mortar, and pounded them with a pestle. He then used a sieve to sort the particles, cleaned them with water, and dried them... During the research phase for making the paintings, apart from his time working as a musician or teaching, Mr. Nam spent almost all day at home, devoting his entire mind to experimenting with stone paintings.

By "giving birth" to granite paintings, Mr. Nam has contributed to enriching the cultural landscape of his hometown, An Giang, creating a distinctive art form known as Bay Nui stone paintings. From the black and white colors of pebbles collected from the That Son region, Mr. Nam has "transformed" them into vibrant paintings, allowing viewers to reminisce about their hometown in An Giang. However, in recent years, due to health issues, Mr. Nam can no longer continue traveling throughout the Bay Nui area to find stones for his paintings. Furthermore, the arduous process of creating these stone paintings has limited the number of pieces produced.

Typically, completing a stone painting takes a considerable amount of time, is highly difficult, and requires meticulous attention to detail, so very few artists explore this art form. Having developed a passion for stone painting, Mr. Nam has devoted much effort to researching and creating beautiful works. Although using only two colors—black and white—these works are incredibly harmonious, simple, and realistic…

MY LINH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/van-hoa/tac-gia-tac-pham/nguoi-thoi-hon-vao-da-that-son-a413974.html