Diem Phung Thi's transformations are unpredictable, along with the '7 letters'.

FROM DOCTOR TO ARTIST

The renowned sculptor Diem Phung Thi.

Diem Phung Thi, whose real name was Phung Thi Cuc, was born on August 18, 1920, in Chau E, Thuy Bang commune, Thua Thien Hue province. Her paternal family was in Bui Xa commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province; she was the daughter of Mr. Phung Duy Can, who served as a Tham Cong (commander) in charge of the construction of Khai Dinh Mausoleum, Governor of Kon Tum province, Judge of Binh Thuan province, Tham Tri (minister) of the Ministry of Public Works, and retired with the title of Minister of Public Works and Associate Grand Scholar.

Orphaned at the age of 3, Diem Phung Thi lived with her father in Kon Tum for 9 years before returning to Hue to attend primary school. Afterward, she became a student at Dong Khanh School (Hue) and then a student at Hanoi Medical University.

In 1946, Phung Thi Cuc graduated in dentistry from the first class of the Hanoi Medical University of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the nationwide resistance war, she went to the free zone to serve the resistance. Due to a serious illness, in 1948, she was taken to France for treatment. In France, after recovering, Phung Thi Cuc continued her studies and earned a doctorate in dentistry in 1953. There, Phung Thi Cuc married her colleague, Mr. Nguyen Phuc Buu Diem, a childhood friend from Hue. The name Diem Phung Thi originated from that marriage.

After more than 10 years practicing medicine, in 1959, Phung Thi Cuc began to explore the art of sculpture. “In the early 1960s, the war in my homeland was raging fiercely. Scenes of death were repeatedly broadcast on television, causing everyone to feel stressed. To maintain balance, I studied martial arts and pottery to escape the confines of my dental profession! One day, passing by a clay sculpture workshop, I stopped and didn't go anywhere else. It seemed as if a magnetic force drew me in, holding me there. I couldn't determine whether I sought out sculpture or sculpture chose me…” – This was a bold decision that changed her life. She endured countless hardships and struggles to become a doctor/doctor and achieve a peaceful life, but she left all that behind to pursue sculpture, driven by a deep concern for her homeland suffering from war. She saw art as a way to give her voice to her country and her nation. She confidently embraced self-transformation, believing she "couldn't live her whole life confined to just 36 teeth." She yearned to do something that would allow national pride to be expressed through her art and character.

Sculptor Diem Phung Thi in Paris in 1967. Archival photo.

UNPREDICTABLE TRANSFORMATIONS WITH THE "7 LETTERS"

In 1963, in Paris, Diem Phung Thi held her first exhibition, which was warmly received by the public. Professor Madi Menier of the University of Paris 1 – Sorbonne assessed: “For the first time, without seeking novelty or exoticism, a sculptor – among countless sculptors from the Far East to Paris – has secured a place for Asia right in the heart of Paris's very modern sculpture industry. The work of a master artist and a prophetic work. The high degree of simplification and subtlety of forms, rare, pure, and interwoven, directly and clearly foreshadowed the later characteristics of Diem Phung Thi's art, a unique, completely new creative style, found only in her” (Madi Menier, Diem Phung Thi “Lettré(s) de science et de talent”)– 1997).

From that debut exhibition until 1990, Diem Phung Thi held 22 exhibitions in Europe and many other countries around the world. In France, she was invited to erect monuments in 36 locations. In 1991, Diem Phung Thi's name was included in the Larousse Dictionary.Art du XX siecleIn 1992, she was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In Vietnam, Diem Phung Thi held two exhibitions, in Saigon (1962) and Hanoi (1978).

Diem Phung Thi – throughout her artistic journey, has primarily focused her creative work on three themes: women and children, protest against war, and longing for her homeland, Vietnam.

Seven letters – the sculptural language of Diem Phung Thi.

In terms of visual language, she moved from sculptural forms with a distinctly feminine perspective, leaving her own mark with an aesthetic viewpoint on harmony and sensuality from the female body, a sense of freshness, purity, and subtlety, with graceful and fluid forms and lines, mainly mimicking common figures in life, expressed through highly simplified forms that nonetheless contained a wondrous sensitivity, tinged with Eastern mystique. Her early sculptural art, with its refined forms condensed into "simple, easy-to-make elements, avoiding the risk of distortion" (Diem Phung Thi), foreshadowed a style imbued with abstract spirit and transcendental concepts. From squares, trapezoids, rectangles, circles, etc., she created seven unique modules that people call "the seven letters of Diem Phung Thi" (art critic Raymond Cogniat), "the seven musical notes of Diem Phung Thi" (Professor Tran Van Khe)... She assembled/transformed these modules into incredibly versatile works of art imbued with Eastern philosophy, bearing the exclusive Diem Phung Thi brand. That is the "language of Diem Phung Thi," the world of "seven letters."

Diem Phung Thi's works are largely assembled from modules based on fundamental visual design structures using various materials in groups, focusing on or gradually transforming, exploiting the role of light and visual force effects to allow the "letters" to express the author's thoughts. “With simplified modules that are both geometric and symbolic, concepts very suitable for modern European architectural spaces as well as the rational spirit of the West, her works have formed and stood out within the natural space, transforming the natural space into the eighth letter in a unique world of the artist. On the other hand, what makes Diem Phung Thi's works not unfamiliar to Eastern, especially Vietnamese, emotional thinking, more than anything purely Vietnamese, is the expression of introspective forms” (Le Thi My Y). Professor Tran Van Khe also commented: "Her sculptures evoke in me images of Vietnamese architecture, painting, and music. The national character in her sculptures gives viewers the wonder of discovering the gentleness of rediscovering old scenes and traces of the past."

Some works by sculptor Diem Phung Thi: "Shyness" (plaster – 1966); "Circus IV" (synthetic resin – 1971); "Father and Son" (aluminum – 1978) and "Silence" (wood, 1988 – 1993). (Photo courtesy of kientrucvadoisong)

Her nationalistic spirit was evident not only in her art but also in her social activities. She was a strong opponent of the American war in Vietnam and actively supported the Vietnamese delegation during the Paris Conference on Vietnam (1968-1973).

In her final years, she lived in Hue and passed away there on January 29, 2002. She donated nearly 400 works to the city of Hue, out of thousands created during her more than 40 years of artistic work. Since 1994, the Diem Phung Thi Art Center in Hue has displayed 376 works and 498 artifacts at 17 Le Loi Street.

Diem Phung Thi and the "Diem Phung Thi language" are a source of pride for Vietnamese sculpture, for Nghe An province, Hue, and all of Vietnam.

Diem Phung Thi Art Center (17 Le Loi Street, Hue City). Photo: Dinh Toan/TNO