Ngoc is the first person who taught me how to see things and the sceneries with an artist's opinion. There are many differences between holding the brushes and touching the color because all the thing can be seen by our eyes are not really what we will turn into paintings. It is required that the artist needs to have a strong faith and be open-minded about the colors and the shapes on the paper. The things we can see, sometimes, are what the mind wants us to capture only, but when we draw they down, they are what the heart wants us to feel. Whether the objects which we drawn are still skewed, the shades are probaly confused or the landscapes are darker, ...etc, so different compare with a photograph, but we still put our egos in it.

The more we draw, the more boundaries will be expanded, so that many artistic concepts will gradually change. What we feel that it should be, supposed to be, pobably not be what it will become in an end. So becoming a freedom man, be released from prejudices and fears, is a very good background for becoming an artist. I found this beautiful thing inside Ngoc that he has got the strong foundation. But even when I said it to Ngoc, he only laughed and replied with a humble answer: You keep talking like that! I'm still on my way and have to try harder.

Ngoc has started with the themes of Vietnam's mountains and nature. The paintings about local people and the landscapes of the highlands are always prefered to represent the bright and to inspire the viewers. Back in recent years, Ngoc's paintings have gradually changed. Instead of following what are close to the tastes of art- buyers, Ngoc has been focusing more on what he feel as well as the things he want to say. It's not hard for me to say that I can feel the things in his paintings are getting deeper than a mere thing. As I can seen recently, for example, I saw an ocean crashing on the cliff, also saw a sea of ​​clouds hugging the horizon. And what if we turned everything's angles, could we also have an ocean in the sky? And if you try, feel free in imagination, what do you encounter in every work of this artist? Above all of those, I want to congratulate Ngoc on his first solo exhibition, which marks his new path that leads to freedom.

25-10-2019

Nguyen Thuy Linh

(Cẩm Vân Dịch)