VietNamNet Bridge – An exhibition of 29 lacquer paintings by female artist Cong Kim Hoa is open to the public at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi.

Abstract juncture: Giao Mua (Blossoming Nature), by Cong Kim Hoa, is on display at Hoa's exhibition of lacquer paintings.

Titled Turning Point, the exhibition is Hoa's first solo show, marking 10 years of work with lacquer.

"Autumn always brings me a lot of thoughts and emotions. That's why I decided to open the exhibition at this time," Hoa said, "After time, I want to look back at what I did and share my achievements with friends and art lovers."

With the theme of humans and nature, the exhibited works explore the contrast between red and black (vermilion versus black Iacquer) and black and white (black lacquer and egg shells), which create a visible impression of the broken figures naturally incorporated into the painting structure.

The artist chose concrete objects to paint. A flower vase on a table, for instance, or the corner of a rural garden, but neglects all substance; only descriptive lines and shadows are utilised and set in a composition that easily feature in a square or lengthens as in ancient oriental scrolling pictures.

"The Turning Point exhibition marks Hoa's transition from her earlier modernist representation to an aesthetic of abstract expressionism," Shireen Naziree, member of the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery of Malaysia.

"With the exhibition, Hoa outlines a new objective, one that provokes the tension between her own individual experiences and her profile as an artist within the realm of Vietnamese contemporary art," Na-Ziree continued.

However, Phan Cam Thuong, art historian and critic, calls Hoa a moderate painter.

"She is neither flaunty, mannered nor neglectful but very careful about searching the subtleties that are good for her self-expression and the promotion of the painting project capable of going further on the artistic road."

A graduate of the Ha Noi Industrial Fine Art College in 1985 with major in ceramic art, Hoa turned to confine her work to lacquer since 1993.

She has exhibited extensively in the country and abroad including Germany, Denmark, France, Argentina and the Netherlands. Her worked can be viewed at the National Art Gallery of Malaysia.

The exhibition will run until Sunday. The paintings will then be brought for exhibition next month at the Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand.

(Source: Viet Nam News)