'Entering the Darkness' - A solo exhibition by artist Vu Kim Thu

'Entering the Darkness' is the result of a series of ongoing experiments, using Japanese Washi paper and Vietnamese Dzó paper, combining line drawing and light arrangement. The idea originated from Kim Thư's first art camp at Mino Paper Village (Japan) in 2013, where she was introduced to papermaking and lighting. In 2014, the artist developed the idea into a light installation at an art camp at the Sapporo Artists Residency Program (Hokkaido, Japan). Her most recent experiment at the ECO Art program (Muong Art Camp, Hoa Binh, Vietnam) in 2015 included elements related to spatial design and lighting.

Artist Vu Kim Thu was born in 1976 in Hanoi. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree from the Hanoi University of Fine Arts in 1999 and a Master's degree in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, in 2003. Thu has participated in many international art camps such as: Vermont Art Camp (USA), Goyang Art Camp (Korea), Sanskriti Kendra (India), Schoeppingen Art Camp (Germany), Mc Coll Art Center (USA), Rockefeller Bellagio Center (Italy), and the La Coruna Museum of Contemporary Art (Spain)... these camps have influenced her artistic creations in many different ways. In recent years, Thu has developed a fondness for and been influenced by Japanese culture. Her research on Washi paper and her experiences in Japan (Kamiyama Artist Residency Program, Mino Paper Art Village, and Sapporo Art Camp) have led her to experiment with paper sculpture and light installations.

“My world is a microcosm. It includes landscapes, nature, architecture, and scribbled decorative lines that create the effect of a three-dimensional city. These drawings change with each destination and different space. When I arrive in a new city, I orient myself to its structure by repeatedly drawing architecture, shapes, and spaces based on observations of reality and later memories. I often draw cities in the form of maps. And those maps are pieced together from structures that suggest roads, houses, and traffic. With a small stroke, I begin to create my city, and from that small stroke, the city grows bigger and bigger…” Vu Kim Thu explained.

The Thanh