Hue lotus in Le Hoa's paintings

Through the winding slopes covered with patches of xuyen chi, people and vehicles seem to get lost in the green canopy. The cool wind gently flows through the bamboo banks forming a path shimmering with sunlight. Small houses nestle on the peaceful and quiet hillsides. Hue has picturesque suburban streets and residential areas. The sound of birds cooing on the red tile roofs and unplastered brick windows. A door frame evokes the image of a meditator with simple lines peeking out from behind the golden bamboo branches. I immediately recognized the house I was looking for.

The young artist couple Le Hoa and Minh Thi with their two boys are arranging the first bunches of longan in the season into a few small bags. The first batch of Hue longan grown on hilly soil has thick, drained flesh, not too crunchy, a mild sweet taste and very fragrant. We stood in front of a room of about 40 square meters with paintings hanging all over the walls, neatly stacked in piles, wrapped in foam for careful preservation. Hoa happily said:

- These are the paintings prepared for the solo exhibition to be held this August at the Fine Arts Exhibition Hall of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association in Hanoi .

It is known that 15 years after graduating from Hue University of Fine Arts, Hoa has participated in many joint exhibitions locally, domestically and in countries in the region, receiving many awards and attention from collectors and art lovers.

Born and raised in the cradle of art in the ancient capital, Hoa's paintings have exploited stories bearing the hidden traces of time, still lifes full of nostalgia, past and present color patches, blending in each layer of rough, flowing mache. Interested in the technique of creating textures with the way of expressing combined shapes, Hoa's paintings have a very special color tone, easily recognizable as ancient moss clumps, old brick walls, garden corners full of light, poetic rivers... like the deep scent and color of the land, like a call to return.

We believe in the natural beauty of a flower with a pure scent that is nurtured from the dark, lonely mud. We revere a flower with thin petals that lean on each other affectionately without choice. There is a spark in the artist's dream like a conception that has appeared, an outbreak of a process of calm contemplation and observation. In the ancient capital this season, lotus is everywhere in the ponds and lakes. Memories retain poetic images of lotus and now the charm of leaves, flowers and pure scent lingering among ancient mausoleums and temples, peaceful villages.

I am not too surprised by the number of more than 30 large-scale paintings, some up to 4m in size, that the artist is preparing to introduce in this exhibition. Because it is a rapid action that has been brewing. A long-cherished incubation and conception that has come to an explosive end. There is no excessive hesitation or groping here. It is the flow of consciousness leading to colors and brushstrokes, leisurely but decisive, devoted and free.

The mache part with impressive quality creating technique has created emotional effects for the subject in the story that the author wants to tell. The layers of Imperial Citadel bricks, the mist of time and the gentle, clear blue of the sky and leaves, the pure, holy white of blooming petals... And the meditative state is expressed repeatedly with many shapes, although consciously blurred as a background for the story, but brings a lot of emotions to the viewer.

Facing “Tam Quan”, “Tu Dien”, “Vong Xua”, “Tiep Noi”, we seem to be back, with our feet kissing the ground. And with “Vo dieu Sen”, “Dien hanh phuc”, “Khau ang”… with the colors flowing and overflowing without needing to control the distance between the painting and real life, the viewer feels like they are touching the quiet land where we always wish to reside.

Fifteen years ago, the first painting that the young student Le Hoa completed and was chosen by a German layman to buy was Lotus Still Life. And then, with the subject matter of hundreds of paintings that Hoa expressed during the process of searching for a unique path, the marks in his path of artistic practice are all attached to and have the scent and color of this special flower.

Hoa shared:

- I don't remember how many paintings I've painted about lotus, just like every artist has painted about this flower more than once. But this time I really want to do something different, to renew myself, to renew my paintings. Lotus now is no longer just about painting flowers, leaves or branches, but it also delves deeper into everyday stories and many profound philosophies that people are facing.

It is a sincere feeling for the country, a bit of wandering and a philosophical color, a desire to send to the audience to follow the path: Truth - Goodness - Beauty through the image of "LOTUS" - LOTUS.

Flipping through each painting, I was truly moved by the young artist’s concentration and tireless creative labor. The colors, brushes, and carefully researched techniques shine on the canvas with a unique expressive language that is worthy of respect.

Lotus Season. In the middle of lotus season, Hoa's paintings have also bloomed lotus flowers of love and hope for healing and return.

Painter Le Hoa, born in 1983 in Hue City. He graduated from the University of Arts, majoring in Painting, and is a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association. Hoa won First Prize at the Exhibition celebrating the traditional day of Vietnamese Fine Arts organized by the Thua Thien Hue Fine Arts Association in 2016; received the Buu Chi Award in Hue 2017; participated in the Mekong River region exhibition in Thailand in December 2013; participated in the exhibition "Dutch Color Rendezvous" at the Ho Chi Minh Museum of Fine Arts in 2014; in 2011 & 2017, his paintings were exhibited at the National Youth Fine Arts Festival in Hanoi...

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