SWEETBITTER WHISPERS (2016)
During my brief residency in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, I was stirred by one particular sound: the songs and speeches broadcast daily from 6 am to 8 am and 4 pm to 6 pm. These broadcast gush out from the noticeable wide-brimmed megaphones positioned on top of electricity poles at every street corner. The megaphone are so well located that wherever, whenever you are in Hanoi, be it your hotel room, your private home, a random suburban neighborhood, or tourist spots – you will continually hear the noises.The news get delivered in a monotone voice. Besides update such as weather forecast or prices of market items, the rest of the broadcast about the government party is always the same. First, the broadcaster will mention the cruelty of the invaders. Then he will praise the war for independence led by the communist party. Some songs about the glory that Vietnamese communist soldiers achieved during the war will be arranged at the end of the segment. Sometimes, news about current achievement of the communist parties will be included. Passively forced to listen to these broadcast, I often have the feeling of suffocating and irritating, since that many of the stories told are so well fabricated. On the other hand, this setup has become the source of inspiration for my next art pieces. These megaphone remind me of lilies with petals flared out, passionate obstinate and persistent. Just like the propaganda songs, these flowers promise to bring joy and happiness through its lovely appearance. They keep flaring out more and giving out strong fragrance. However, if you stay in their reach for too long, an unquenchable irritation will slowly brewed up inside of you. These flowers, megaphone liked are everywhere, giving the impression of invading your very own personal space, reminding you of its annoying scent - your duty and doctrine, in a patently forceful manner. I wonder if such situation happens elsewhere.
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A Fortune Shell takes inspiration from a Vietnamese folklore, the story of Hoan Kiem Lake. According to the story, the lake is where Vietnamese King Le Loi returned his magic sword to the turtle god, who had lent him the sword to fight invaders. In addition, the turtle is a symbol of longevity, protection and one of the four holly beasts in Vietnamese culture.
“Lilies” is a painting inspired by another painting by Tô Ngoc Vân, a famous Vietnamese painter. To Ngoc Van’s painting portraits a lovely maiden holding a branch of lilies. In my painting, the maiden’s head is replaced with white blooming lilies. The blooming flowers symbolize maidens singing with all her passion; the maidens’ songs, like the fragrance of the flowers, are so fierce that they are scathing. This intense replacement is meant as a direct contrast to To Ngoc Van’s innocent images and to bring toward the audience an unpleasant feeling like the one I experienced while listening to the megaphone sounds.
From central to home
Regarding space, we think of the vast outer space, milky ways and black holes. Talking about time, we think about clocks and numbers, months and years of the past, present and future. The time that I feel is the moments when I completed a swimming lap, the breaths of a
person by my side and the fading of relationships ...My time are the events and emotions that are trapped in a space - a certain place in the line of the events of my life. I thought I would always remember the beauty of a Muslim girl, whom I sat across on a slow train, now it is only a fading portrait in my paintings. My time and emotions would stay on the KTM in Malaysia forever. “From center to home” is small oil-painting portraits about the Muslim girl whom I met during my 30-day art residency in Malaysia.
Regarding space, we think of the vast outer space, milky ways and black holes. Talking about time, we think about clocks and numbers, months and years of the past, present and future. The time that I feel is the moments when I completed a swimming lap, the breaths of a
person by my side and the fading of relationships ...My time are the events and emotions that are trapped in a space - a certain place in the line of the events of my life. I thought I would always remember the beauty of a Muslim girl, whom I sat across on a slow train, now it is only a fading portrait in my paintings. My time and emotions would stay on the KTM in Malaysia forever. “From center to home” is small oil-painting portraits about the Muslim girl whom I met during my 30-day art residency in Malaysia.