NGUYEN
Minh Thanh Vietnam b.1971
Portrait of mother 1998
Chinese ink and watercolour on 'do' paper
240 x 160cm (8 pieces, 66 x 85cm each)
Purchased 1999.
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Reproduced by permission
of the artist |
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Portrait of mother is a fragmented
yet monumental portrait of the artist's mother. It exemplifies
Nguyen Minh Thanh's artistic practice in terms of technique,
materials and iconography. The artist works mainly in Chinese
ink and watercolour on handmade Vietnamese 'do' paper. His themes
are inspired by rural Vietnamese life and the role of Vietnamese
women in society throughout the country's history. The figure
of the mother holds a central part in his work and carries strong
autobiographical references. In Portrait of mother, the
subtle calligraphic strokes, subdued palette and use of 'do'
paper complement the sense of intimacy conveyed by the subject
matter of the work.
The common thread that runs
through Minh Thanh's statements about his mother and portraiture
is that they are prompted by memories of his childhood. This
is a consistent theme and inspiration in Minh Thanh's practice.
In Portrait of mother, Minh Thanh paints an image of
his mother from his childhood memories of her youthful face.
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Nguyen Minh Thanh is the youngest artist in this exhibition.
Born in a village outside Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, Minh
Thanh's experience of life is deeply coloured by the fortunes
of his childhood rural life. These early years were marked
by hardships, yet his family was sustained by the attention
and enterprise shown by his mother in her efforts to feed
and educate her five children. |
| Nguyen
Minh Thanh |
Minh Thanh decided on a career as an artist and graduated from
the Vietnam College of Fine Arts in Hanoi in 1996.He has exhibited
work in many local and international exhibitions and the work
Portrait of mother was included in the 'Third Asia-Pacific
Triennial of Contemporary Art' in Brisbane in 1999.
| Other
lines to follow for Nguyen Minh Thanh |
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The
artist and his mother.
Photograph courtesy of the artist.
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'In the evening my mother came
home from market, she usually counted money, there was little
money and I helped her to do that. That small humble money
was always nearly enough for our narrow family expenses. And
it was enough for us, five children growing up . . . I became
an artist. My mother and me, we are content that I am an artist.
My mother does not know and does not understand what I'm doing
in art . . . A painter, for her that's a good career and honourable,
rather than having to work hard in the fields.'
'I wanted to draw her, and I
do, but to draw like her is really difficult; I drew a woman
who doesn't look like my mother or like anyone else. Now my
mother is happy but her smile still keeps somehow the sadness
of the hard times before, the time that seems long long ago.
She is still there, she will always be there, she won't change,
she doesn't need to change. But our generation, we change
and change a lot.'
Nguyen Minh Thanh quoted in
Beyond the Future: The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of
Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1999,
p.164.
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