"The moment we are gorgeous" - a series of painting inspired by Ocean Vuong novel "On earth we are briefly gorgeous. As my grandmother passed away and the journey for this book started after his mother also passes away, I have felt the connection and empathy through the novel. This series is like an image interpretation from my view of point on each moment from the book as well as a highlight for the most touching reads I came across.
"Birds of a feather"
2024
oil on canvas
Inspired by Ocean's Vuong quote in the book"on earth we are briefly gorgeous". "“You're a mother, Ma. You're also a monster. But so am I - which is why I can't turn away from you. Which is why I have taken god's loneliest creature and put you inside it. Look.”
"Make me young again"
2024
Oil on canvas
One of my favorite mention from the book is the act of plucking gray hair, as it seems normalize in Vietnamese culture yet so strange to the West. Removing the sign of aging to preserve the youthful soul is so intriguing to me. One of the lines from the book was "Make grandma young today, okay?". So innocently spoken yet resonates with me for a while, if only it was true, I would spend so much time bringing back youth for my mom and hers.
"“I am thinking of beauty again, how some things are hunted because we have deemed them beautiful. If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly . . . To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.”
"Ego"
2022
Oil on canvas
Belonging to the series inspired by Carl Jung's theory on the human mind and personality, this visual representation of ego is my interpretation from the theory. A person's self-esteem or importance. I portrayed the term as a beautiful image that people set for themselves.
"Shadow"
2022
oil on canvas
Inspired by Carl Jung philosophy of the human's mind and psychology. This one represent shadow, the true self of each individual.
Model painting and practices
2022-2023
"Persona"
2022
Oil on canvas
The second painting from the series of human personality, this piece conveyed how we as a community hides our true self to feed into the social norms, not because we are a saint, but mostly because we are cowards who are too afraid to face controversy or conflict. we put on a mask and act along the way other people expected us to act, thus the human persona.
