“Passion is the key element”

Tao Huong, Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Industrial Fine Art and a Master’s degree from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. She is the  member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Club. Tao Huong is Fine Arts college teacher, Head of Fine Arts Department at Hoa Binh University . For the second consecutive year, the Alliance française du Bengale collaborated with the Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam in India for an exhibition of works by Vietnamese artists at the ICCR Kolkata. Tao Huong painting was exhibited. 

What initially sparked your interest in painting as an expressive medium?

I choose art as a way to express my feelings and point of view with life and nature. Sometimes it helps me to speak up, to draw my own dreams. Whenever holding the paint brush in my hand, I feel relieved and be able to get closer to all desires that I can hardly touch in real life. That’s why I’m so attach to art as it also find me many sympathetic friends.

How would you describe your artistic work?

The artistic style that I follow is realistic and sometimes surrealist. Recently my art work tend to follow surrealist more every passing day. However, I still try to remain the softness and lovely vibe in every painting.

What is your preferred medium of work and why?

The materials I often use are oil-paint and acrylic. These two materials can easily impart the ideas that pop up in my head and support me a lot in depicting the beauty of colors through every art work.

What is your creative process like?

To create an art work, I first start off by arranging all the ideas that I’ve already got. The next step is to sketch them out with pencil(black and white).  At the same time I imagine these sketches placed on both rectangular and square canvas to decide which one fits better. Next, I put them all on the fabric by working with oil-paint color. This process may lead to many effects that I myself have never discovered. This is such an interesting process because the art work will still be imposed by ideas but also be guided by sudden inspiration. From that base, I slowly build up until I feel satisfied.

Do you have any specific projects you’ve been wanting to do?

I'm nurturing a project which connects groups of artists all over Asia. I found that the cultural diversity from each groups will attract artists as well as art lovers from other countries. Understand that we all share the same purpose is to seek for beauty in our lives, I’m truly want to arrange more exhibitions in both India and Vietnam. During this time, the artists will have a great chance to explore one another’s cultures.

Any advice to other aspiring/young artists/ creative students?

As an artist and a lecturer, after years of teaching, I found that passion is the key element which decide if you can create high quality art works or not. I believe that it is possible, especially when you draw something your heart wants, which came from the bottom of your soul.