Art student goes back to her roots in order to fly away

A view of the exhibition Metamorphosis in Hà Nội in August 2024. Photo courtesy of Maika Nguyễn

HÀ NỘI — She may be studying art abroad, but Maika Nguyễn finds Vietnamese traditional arts a true inspiration and wants others to share in that vision.

The teenager's love for the motherland’s art forms has recently been demonstrated through her first art exhibition Metamorphosis, which uses Vietnamese traditional materials like silk, ceramic, lacquer and glass.

In her debut exhibition mid-August, Maika introduces five works, paintings, sculpture and an installation, all constructed using different bases inspired by the legacy of Việt Nam's art world and sourced from here.

The first work, Dream of the Flame-born Butterfly, includes 100 colourful Raku ceramic pieces about a butterfly born in fire, described as intense, brilliant, transformative and unpredictable.

The second work Flying over the Red River, uses Bát Tràng ceramic sculpture and some metal experiments.

The others include Flying in Nostalgia (Whisper of Yesterday) - a set of three lacquer paintings on a prepared surface, showing the contrast between modern butterfly wings and nostalgic old patterns as a dialogue between old and new, between the young generation and traditional culture.

Silken Wings - a silk work of ten panels, each 6m long, depicts a solid butterfly wing flying through space and time on a fragile white silk background.

Dance of Light - an installation work with a light curtain - consists of 230 glass tubes made by herself. With ideas, a butterfly's wings travel and are challenging to grasp and only from a particular perspective can we see the butterfly's wings.

As a senior international student at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Massachusetts, US, Maika, 18, has been learning and creating ceramic, glass and painting projects since 9th grade.

In 2023, she won two Gold Prizes at the Literature—Art Competition for Young Writers and Artists in the United States with her works On Rainy Day (oil painting on canvas) and Puzzle (ceramic-glass).

At 14, Maika and her teammates won the global championship at the SAGE global Young Startup competition (Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship Competition).

At the opening ceremony of Metamorphosis, Maika said: "Since the age of 16, I have studied at Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Studying internationally exposed me to a diverse art world from many countries, new technology and practical experiences to in order to practise art.

"But it seems that the more I live in an international environment, the more I see that their identity makes an artist different.

"I look for traditional roots in unique Vietnamese materials such as ceramics, silks, lacquer and hand blown glass. There, I was able to dialogue with my roots and traditional culture. That's where I can fly creatively with the youthful and energetic spirit of a GenZ."

Maika said she has been planning the Metamorphosis project for two years. During that time, she spent spring, summer and autumn school breaks returning to Việt Nam, where she was born, to study and work at traditional craft villages. She is grateful for all the assistance from local painters, artists and craftsmen.

Maika Nguyễn working on one of the art works for her debut exhibition Metamorphosis. Photo Nguyễn Văn Hưng

“I spent almost three months in Việt Nam this summer to complete all the artworks for the exhibition,” said the teenage.

“My own challenges while creating the exhibition pieces stemmed from experience, technique and time constraints. However, these obstacles sometimes presented opportunities for innovation and discovery.

“With ceramics, the two biggest challenges were the clay and glaze.

"While studying ceramics in the US, I found that the materials and glazes differed significantly from those used in Bát Tràng Village. When working on Dance of Fire, with 100 bricks forming a Raku-glazed ceramic wall, I could only fire four bricks daily due to the clay type and many cracked after firing.

"For Flying over the Red River, the glaze colours didn't turn out as initially envisioned, so I came up with the idea of silver plating the bricks with unexpected colours. This created a contrast in materials and a modern touch to the ceramic piece.

"With the glasswork, the difficulty was arranging nearly 250 glass tubes to form three curtains, with their details interlocking to create the shape of three butterflies. As for lacquer, it was my first time working with sơn ta (Vietnamese traditional raw lacquer) and controlling its drying time was quite complex,” she said.

Master glass artist Dang Van Tho shows Maika Nguyen the art of glassmaking in Thong Nhat Commune, Thuong Tin District, Hà Nội. Photo Nguyễn Văn Hưng

Maika said she is passionate about innovating with traditional Vietnamese craft materials, bringing the practices closer to young people and introducing Vietnamese crafts to the world.

“Việt Nam is a country rich in cultural and artistic traditions. Through my artwork, I want to introduce the Vietnamese craft villages where I was born and raised to the world. I want people all over the world to touch a part of the Vietnamese soul,” said the young artist. VNS