Painter Phan Ngoc and the lonely window

(Baonghean) - Looking younger than his age, artist Phan Ngoc opened the door to welcome me at his family's private home in an alley in Vinh city. I was quite surprised to see that there were no paintings hanging in the artist's house. Curiously, I asked and found out that the paintings were "hidden" in the safest place in the house, on a small shelf, where humidity could not mold or discolor the oil paint...

Phan Ngoc said that most of his “asset of paintings” were sent here and there, and he did not dare leave his new paintings at home for fear of mold. There were only a few paintings on the shelf, most of which were painted decades ago. Then he showed me those old, dusty paintings. The paintings had a dark color scheme.

Artist Phan Ngoc next to his self-portrait.

It is a still life of chrysanthemums painted in gray-blue tones like in the scene of a sad late autumn afternoon. It is a portrait of ethnic minority girls in a remote village in Sa Pa. It is the sad features of highland girls after an afternoon market... The works are shown on large canvas, all are lively, peaceful and full of emotions. Phan Ngoc said, each painting is a passion, his whole life is also a passion for painting.

Artist Phan Ngoc (Phan Hong Ngoc) was born in 1969 in Vinh. He said that since he was a child, he loved drawing very much. His parents were very supportive, often buying paints, paper and pens for their son. From his school-age drawings, he decided to pursue a career in painting. In 1988, he took the entrance exam to the Central College of Music and Painting, studying the Faculty of Fine Arts Pedagogy. In 1991, he graduated, returned to Vinh and in 1994 worked as an art teacher at the Faculty of Physical Education - Music - Painting, Nghe An Pedagogical College. From 2009 to 2011, he continued to study at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. During this time, he created many works, using materials that he had been trained in a systematic and in-depth manner at the leading art school in Vietnam, such as oil painting, silk, wood carving and other types of graphic paintings. During his studies and teaching, Phan Ngoc participated in many regional exhibitions, group exhibitions and activities of the local Literature and Arts Association of which he is a member. He is currently the Head of the Fine Arts Department of Nghe An Pedagogical College.

My daughter.

The painting material that Phan Ngoc prefers is oil paint. He paints still life, landscapes and portraits very well with this material. Paintings like Self-Portrait, My Daughter... are sometimes painted with light, clear colors, sometimes with extremely impressive harmonies using hot colors with bold, talented compositions and strokes. In recent years, besides oil paint, Phan Ngoc has painted a lot on other materials such as silk, wood carving, acrylic, besides painting portraits, still lifes in a realistic style mixed with a bit of impressionism, he also tries himself in the genre of abstract paintings (Summer Noon) and Pop-Art (Color and Black and White, Memory...). He paints whenever he has free time. And always with an unquenchable passion. Sometimes he paints after a party with friends, while drunk... His works are always highly appreciated by friends in the industry.

I said, so you have fulfilled your childhood dream. Phan Ngoc smiled and nodded, but in his smile there was a hint of sadness and a bit of apprehension. “The only thing is, painting in remote provinces like Nghe An is still not developed. Although it is still an indispensable subject in local training, for artists like that is not enough,” he said. Then he told me funny stories that his artist friends often tell each other, about people who decided to study fine arts after failing to find any other job, including repairing bicycles. They are people who consider fine arts as the last thing in the world to do. I understand this is a joke, but it is not without a trace of the truth, that painting and fine arts are being ignored or not properly recognized in most remote provinces. People are willing to spend billions to buy jewelry but cannot spend a few million to decorate their luxurious house with a painting. If they do buy paintings, instead of looking for real art, they are looking for paintings drawn by an obsessive commercialism, fine art, copies, and embroidery. The artist is forever alone in a world where he has to sacrifice many other things to immerse himself.

“Color and black and white - Pop-Art”.

Phan Ngoc is the same, he is lonely to the core in his own small window, where he used to eagerly desire, used to strive, study, used to open an art gallery and dream of bringing a new breath to the art environment in Vinh city. His window is still full of colors, but he knows it is so small and private that sometimes he is afraid to talk about it. However, every moment of his life, he still stands at that small window to look out at the world. Lonely but not discouraged. He always aspires and believes that one day, he will have better conditions to truly devote himself to creative work. "I dream of having a separate space to paint, and hope that soon the day will come when the taste and art environment here will develop more," Phan Ngoc said.

His feelings are also the common feelings of many artists, those who are passionate about the art of color and block, but are often hurt by that passion. It is not simply a battle to distinguish right from wrong, black and white that artists must face, because if so, no matter how harsh it is, they can still bravely defend their ideals. This is also their battle with themselves, and sometimes even small injuries can make them fall. The problem is not only the worry about food and clothing, when creative work up to this point cannot do anything more than satisfy private passion, but also the hidden urge inside the artist, it needs to be encouraged and needs to be respected by the community.

That urge has always existed in Phan Ngoc, since he was a little boy dreaming of colors. And now, even though the painting life around him is just a picture with dark colors, every day beside the white canvases, he still revolves in his small, noisy, colorful window. Everything, including loneliness, is not enough to extinguish his passion for painting. "I paint, hope and wait," Phan Ngoc said with a very endearing smile.

Quynh Lam