Diem Phung Thi's unpredictable transformation with '7 letters'

FROM DOCTOR TO ARTIST

Talented sculptor Diem Phung Thi.

Diem Phung Thi's real name is Phung Thi Cuc, born on August 18, 1920 in Chau E, Thuy Bang commune, Thua Thien Hue. Her paternal hometown is Bui Xa commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province; she is the daughter of Mr. Phung Duy Can, who was a Tham Cong in charge of the construction of Khai Dinh Tomb, Kon Tum province governor, Binh Thuan province judge, and Minister of Public Works, retiring with the position of Associate Grand Scholar of Public Works.

Orphaned at the age of 3, Diem Phung Thi followed her father to Kon Tum for 9 years at the age of 6 before returning to Hue to attend primary school. After that, Diem Phung Thi became a student at Dong Khanh School (Hue) and then a student at Hanoi Medical University.

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

After more than 10 years of practicing medicine, in 1959, Phung Thi Cuc began to approach the art of sculpture. “In the early 60s, the war in my hometown was very fierce. The scenes of death were shown over and over again on television, making everyone's mind tense. To maintain balance, I learned martial arts and pottery to escape the narrowness of the dental profession! One day, passing by a clay sculpture workshop, I stopped there and did not go anywhere else. It seemed like there was a magnetic attraction that attracted me and kept me there. I could not tell if I was looking for sculpture or sculpture chose me…” - This was a bold decision that changed her life. Having gone through many ups and downs to become a doctor/PhD and a peaceful life, she left them behind to come to sculpture because of her longing for her homeland that was suffering from war, because she saw that art could help her speak up for her homeland, for her Fatherland. She confidently changed herself because "you cannot live your whole life with only 36 teeth in your mouth". She longed to do something to make national pride speak up through art and her personality.

Sculptor Diem Phung Thi in Paris in 1967. Photo archive

ENDLESS TRANSFORMATION WITH "7 LETTERS"

In 1963, in Paris, Diem Phung Thi held her first exhibition and was warmly welcomed by the public. Professor Madi Menier of the University of Paris 1 - Sorbonne commented: "For the first time, without being fussy about exotic and exotic, a sculptor - among many sculptors from the Far East who came to Paris - won a place for Asia right in the heart of the very modern sculpture industry of Paris. The work of a master artist and a prophetic work. The extreme simplification and sophistication of the forms, rare, pure, interwoven, directly predicted 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 inaugural exhibition until 1990, Diem Phung Thi organized 22 exhibitions in Europe and many 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 of XX SìecleIn 1992, she was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In Vietnam, Diem Phung Thi exhibited twice, in Saigon (1962) and Hanoi (1978).

Diem Phung Thi - on her artistic journey, she mainly dedicates her creations to three themes: women and children, protesting against war, and missing her homeland Vietnam.

7 letters – the sculptural language of Diem Phung Thi.

In terms of visual language, she started from round statues with a strong feminine perspective and made her own mark with an aesthetic perspective on the harmony and sensuality of the female body, a sense of freshness, virginity and sophistication, soft and graceful shapes and lines, mainly simulating common images in life expressed in highly simplified shapes but containing a magical sensitivity, reminiscent of Eastern mystery. Her early round statue art with its refined shapes distilled to the point of condensing and generalizing into "simple, easy-to-make elements, avoiding the risk of deformation" (Diem Phung Thi) predicted a style with an abstract spirit and transcendental concepts. From squares, trapezoids, rectangles, circles… she created 7 unique modules that people call “7 letters of Diem Phung Thi” (art critic Raymond Cogniat), “7 musical notes of Diem Phung Thi” (Professor Tran Van Khe)… She assembled/transformed those modules into extremely versatile works of art imbued with Eastern philosophy, bearing the exclusive brand of Diem Phung Thi. That is the “language of Diem Phung Thi”, the world of “7 letters”.

Diem Phung Thi's works are mostly assembled from modules according to the basic structures of visual design using many different materials in groups, concentrated or gradual, exploiting the role of light and visual effects to help the "letters" speak the author's thoughts. "With simplified modules that are both geometric and symbolic, concepts that are very suitable for modern European architectural space as well as Western rationalism, her works have formed and stood out with natural space, turning natural space into the 8th letter in a separate world of the artist. On the other hand, what makes Diem Phung Thi's works not unfamiliar with Eastern emotional thinking, especially "Vietnam" more than all things purely Vietnamese, is the expression of introverted forms" (Le Thi My Y). Professor Tran Van Khe also commented: “Her statue evokes in me images of architecture, painting and music of the Vietnamese people. The national character in her sculptures evokes in viewers the wonder of discovering the gentleness when rediscovering old scenes and traces of the past.”

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

Her national spirit was not only expressed in art but also in social activities. She was a strong opponent of the US war in Vietnam and participated in many activities to support the Vietnamese delegation during the Paris Conference on Vietnam (1968-1973).

In her last years, she lived in Hue and died here on January 29, 2002. She donated nearly 400 of her thousands of works to Hue City during her 40-year artistic journey. In Hue City since 1994, the Diem Phung Thi Art Center has exhibited 376 works with 498 artifacts at 17 Le Loi.

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

Diem Phung Thi Art Center (No. 17 Le Loi, Hue City). Photo: Dinh Toan/TNO