CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT:
Art has been one of the most important things that make the word for the better. Art has helped us entertain, enjoy the beauty of life, and realize how wonderful the world is. Without arts, the world would be colorless and boring.
The beauty of art could perform in different types, elements, and topics. Moreover, people could use art to talk about a certain topic that needs much attention.
In my art work, I want to bring to people the simplest beauty that not much people talk about: the beauty of a woman. As we can see now, there are many artworks about models, which is a beauty standard for every woman, but we forget the beauty from our mothers and grandmas. They are really pretty: not the pretty of the outside, but the pretty of the inside. They always sacrifice their youth for you, they did everything for you, and no matter what, they will always love you unconditionally. This inspiration has motivated me in making these artworks in order to honor this beauty that many people forget.
By combining all of the elements such as acrylics, canvas, water colors, and so on, I believe that I can bring to everyone different emotions of different timeline: during the war, after the war, and nowadays.
For my first project, which is a first mini sustained investigation, I would love to talk about how women were involved in the Vietnam war. Talking about the war, people usually think of soldiers as a man because this was such hard work that only men can handle it. However, people have never seen women involved in the war. We, as Vietnamese women, successfully became involved in the war. We helped doing heavy things such as carrying the bombs, supporting necessities, bandaging the wounds, and especially fighting for the war. We did fight for peace until the end of the war, which is on April 30th, 1975. We sacrificed our youth for the peace of Viet Nam and for our next generation, which is my generation. This is one of the most important times that I, as a representative for the Generation Z, would love to honor the women involved in this historical event.
Not only talking about women soldiers, there were many mothers, who would stay at home and support mentally. They were called “ Vietnamese heroic mothers”. All they did was support necessities for soldiers in order to continue the fight. Without them , soldiers would not have the strength to continue the fights. My grandma would be the best example for the Vietnamese heroic mother. She was in the war that she would support mentally by singing for the soldiers. She also raised all of her siblings during the war, which was a hard job that I can't even imagine if I was put in that position.
Following with the ideas of Vietnamese women through generations, now I continue this project by stepping into the new timeline: the after war. I would like to show audiences how Vietnamese women’s lives after the war and how our country has been adapted in the past 10 years. Many Americans have thought that Vietnam is still a really poor country, which has no adaptation or connection to the outside world. It is not true: our country can be compared with other developed countries such as Korea, Thailand, and so on. Although we are still in the step of the transformation of the modern country, Vietnam is still a strong country where people would connect to each other in order to improve the better society.
The style of art I follow is called collage but not only the general collage between the drawing and the real picture, I use recycled paper for adding the illusion for my own artwork.
According to the report from many environmentalists, many papers have been wasted every year. Taking the inspiration from recycling paper and waste, I would use the recycled paper, old magazines on my artworks. By adding the paper on my artwork, as you can see, the artworks look more vivid and lively.
Moreover, not only taking about the war and the peace, I would love to introduce to you different kind of performed art in Vietnam, which has been performing for decades. Using the same materials but with different technique, I hope you can have a bigger view about the culture of Vietnam
Overall, the involvement of women in every evolution is so important that helps build up the better community. Our roles are so valuable that we would not only support physically, but we also support emotionally.