VietNamNet Bridge – My Diary From That Battle of 10,000 Ships is the name of an exhibition by Vietnamese American Tammy Nguyen that opened last night at L’usine, 151/1 Dong Khoi Street in HCMC’s District 1.  

Exhibition of leading artists about Hanoi 

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An Australian visitor identified as Alan looks at an installation work by Tammy Nguyen on the opening day of My Diary From That Battle of 10,000 Ships at L’usine. (Photo: SGT)

Organized by the San Art, the exhibition is about a series of installations that unite drawings, paintings and embroideries.

Using paper and silk, and thread-work and ink, Nguyen offers a window upon a battle at sea. The ships made of ink travel across large pieces of paper accompanied by figures reminiscent of calligraphic pictograms. These warriors rage across an ocean, losing limbs, skin and bones.

These pieces of bodies are transformed as anatomical drawings, protected by swathes of stitched thread woven like a healing armor over their disfigurations. These contorted human remnants rest within carved wooden altars, referring not only to that spiritual place of rest, but also the harnessing of an inner emotional endurance.

“I choose simple materials but when they are put inside mirrors, they will create 3D effects for viewers, make sense and give an impression of the sorrow and loss of battles, not at sea but in life,” said Nguyen.

This is Tammy Nguyen’s imagined diary of battle. These ships are not only the variety found at sea, but also the battles she faces in contemporary life.

Born in 1984 and trained at Cooper Union School of Art, New York, Nguyen moved to HCMC on a Fulbright Grant in 2007 to further studies in the traditional techniques of lacquer.

The artist continues to take her fascination with painting, printmaking and construction into new heights of experimentation.

The exhibition runs till November 18.

VietNamNet/SGT