Artist Tran Nguyen (32 years old) was born in Nam Dinh. He comes from a rural area with many memories and childhood memories. That is the cradle that nurtured his soul, and then the scenes of the Northern countryside were depicted by him through each stroke and recreated like a film rewinding time to return to memories.
Painter Tran Nguyen
Inspiration from the birthplace
Tran Nguyen studied art design at the Hanoi University of Theatre and Cinema. Ever since he was in primary and secondary school, he had a special passion for painting and that love grew even stronger later on.
Talking about painting, since entering university, he has been exposed to and studied many topics. When graduating, he was determined to pursue a professional painting career and the topic he chose was Vietnamese countryside paintings.
Born and raised in the countryside, hometown is always the subject that painter Tran Nguyen has the most material to create, because it is closely associated with childhood memories, where there are village roads and ripe rice fields.
The countryside of Nam Dinh is where he was born, studied and grew up. With many memories and childhood memories, the rural theme is associated with painter Tran Nguyen as blood, life, and heart. Childhood exists on village roads, small alleys, ripe rice fields, the feelings that people have for each other are very simple and rustic.
“Those images are deeply ingrained in my mind, motivating me to choose this topic. Because images of the countryside are not seen much anymore, I want to recreate them so that today’s young generation can see the beauty of ancient culture, and those who have experienced it can look back to their childhood when looking at the paintings,” said artist Tran Nguyen.
The main materials that painter Tran Nguyen uses in his works are oil paint and acrylic.
Moments that take you back in time to childhood memories
During the composition process, the biggest difficulty Tran Nguyen encountered was that the old houses were now almost no longer in their original state, all of them had been renovated, losing many ancient details.
“To paint the soul of the countryside, I have to recall the scenery of my childhood, use the knowledge of cinema history that I have learned and real documents, connect them together to create a meaningful picture with beautiful content but still have to be true to historical standards, as well as fully converge the three elements of truth - goodness - beauty. When coming up with ideas and sketching for a work, I have a lot of headaches”, Tran Nguyen confided.
Ripe rice season
The work "The front yard" was inspired by his family's old house.
Most of his works depict the Northern countryside scenery and the work that Tran Nguyen is most proud of is “The front yard”. This work contains many of his childhood memories, it is like a film that helps him go back to that time.
Each of his strokes brings an old, emotional beauty. The scenes of the Northern countryside appear so close and familiar, making viewers feel like they are settling down to a peaceful life without noise or haste.
Tet in the countryside
The work "Countryside Alley"
During his creative process, painter Tran Nguyen often traveled to ancient villages in Hanoi such as Duong Lam, Cu Da, Tay Mo, Lang Ve and many places in neighboring provinces to collect real-life materials.
On nice days, he would go out to draw to get more inspiration and feel the authenticity of the local landscape. In addition, he focused on sketching and composing based on the materials connected together to create a picture with a strong rural character.
Countryside market scene
When asked by Travellive, as society develops, there are not many artists who paint countryside paintings. Do you plan to continue painting your hometown to preserve the daily life and activities?
Artist Tran Nguyen shared: “In fact, there are still many topics to explore in rural paintings, and I will continue to research more on this topic. In the near future, I will paint more about the rural landscapes of the three regions of the country.”
His biggest inspiration comes from the village where he was born and his family members.
“For me, nostalgia will forever remain in the subconscious of every Vietnamese person. I also hope that my work is one of the tickets that bring people back to their childhood, images that seem to no longer exist. Or the historical and cultural values that I myself am trying to preserve and realize. These values will never be lost over time and will always remain in everyone's heart,” artist Tran Nguyen expressed.
