The journey to discovering Zen painting and calligraphy.

Artist Tram Kim Hoa was born in Ho Chi Minh City and grew up and lived in Australia. His life abroad opened up opportunities for him to embark on an artistic journey spanning many continents. He has participated in numerous exhibitions of Zen painting and Zen calligraphy in countries including Australia, China, Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), Malaysia, the Philippines, and Canada. He persistently pursues painting, passionately learns, and deeply researches Zen Buddhism. Through this, he creatively combines Zen, calligraphy, and painting into a unique form of expression, opening up a new style and appearance for calligraphy and painting inspired by Zen.

Artist Tram Kim Hoa at the exhibition "Zen in Life".

For artist Tram Kim Hoa, the creative process is "a period of solitude," where paper, pen, ink, and silence become companions, allowing the mind to merge with the imagery. He believes that Zen painting is primarily about imagery, while form plays only a secondary role. Familiar subjects such as birds, flowers, and landscapes are personified to convey emotion. The empty space in his paintings becomes a visual element that creates a sense of tranquility and inner depth.

His calligraphy also bears his unique mark. He chooses a character or phrase with Zen meaning or connected to personal experience to create his calligraphic works. He frequently uses cursive script because the strokes and structure of the characters express a sense of freedom, fitting his creative spirit. By observing the shape and meaning of the characters, he transforms the strokes and composition to create visual works, embodying the spirit of "poetry within painting." Each work reflects his inner thoughts and experiences. Artist Tram Kim Hoa said: "My works express life through the perspective of Zen, but I don't let the viewer's mind stop at sensory or emotional levels; instead, I guide them through those emotions to return to the serenity of their inner selves."

The combination of Zen Buddhist philosophy and contemporary visual expression shapes his work into a unique artistic world , where ink strokes and empty space imbued with the breath of contemplation. He is highly regarded by many international art researchers. Dr. Gerard Vaughan, Director of the Victoria Art Gallery (Australia), shared: “Tram Kim Hoa’s art breathes new life into traditional visual forms; a contemporary artist inspired by Zen spirituality.”

Let's return to listening to the voice of "nothingness".

The exhibition "Zen in Life" marks a notable return of artist Tram Kim Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City, continuing the creative path he has long pursued. Art researcher Ly Doi, the exhibition curator, commented: "The exhibition is a necessary addition, in the context of contemporary art flourishing with many trends, but exhibitions connected to the concept of Zen are still rare."

The works were widely well received by the public.

Using only ink and water, his minimalist works guide viewers into an inner world. For him, Zen painting is not about storytelling or description, but about reflecting the flow of consciousness. The incomplete circles, curved lines, and smudged ink are seen as moments of breath, where mind and spirit merge. The rest of the works are blank spaces, but viewers don't fall into nothingness; instead, they open up to the boundless tranquility of the mind. The empty spaces in his paintings are for contemplation, realizing that "nothingness" is energy, not absence. Black ink and white paper are not opposition but harmonize, embodying the idea that "form is emptiness, and emptiness is form."

Art researcher Quách Cường commented: “Trầm Kim Hòa chose the path of silence. He painted with black ink on white paper, in the awareness of each breath. While others searched for “images,” he only searched for “emptiness.” And it is in that emptiness that his paintings, or rather his Zen paintings, began to speak wordless: the voice of “nothingness.”

His paintings do not aspire to define truth, nor are they the work of an "enlightened" person. They resemble the traces of someone joyfully seeking moments of meditation in everyday life: a cloud, a bamboo branch, a small path, a crane's wing; or a fleeting thought, an illness, a passion… With an expression as light as a breath, he shares his experience rather than asserting anything.

With that spirit, the viewer enters a space of silence. Initially, many thoughts may arise, wanting to interpret the structure or symbolism. But after a while, those thoughts seem to fade away, giving way to a feeling of stillness before the space of the painting. Just look at the title, look at the brushstrokes, then let your mind quiet down, finding serenity in the rhythm of today's life.

Text and photos: MINH NGUYET

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    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/tim-thay-su-thanh-tinh-qua-thien-hoa-1014524