Created with love and pride for Vietnam
As a talented, hard-working young man living and working in Hiroshima (Japan), Nghe An young man Hoang Van Vung is determined to overcome difficulties to pursue his passion for art. Through art, Vung expresses his patriotism and national pride in a very unique way.
As a talented, hard-working young man living and working in Hiroshima (Japan), Nghe An young man Hoang Van Vung is determined to overcome difficulties to pursue his passion for art. Through art, Vung expresses his patriotism and national pride in a very unique way.
Be Vietnamese!
Although the State funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has ended, these days, information and content related to the late General Secretary is still a topic that receives much attention and sharing from the people. Among them, there is a clip drawing a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh andGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trongwith both hands for 4 hours continuously by the young man Hoang Van Vung (23 years old), from Dien Chau district. Below the clip, netizens not only expressed their emotion and respect for the two great personalities of the Vietnamese people, but also expressed their admiration for the talent and dedication of Hoang Van Vung.
This is not the only work Solid on this subject.
A quick look at Vung's TikTok account with nearly 400,000 followers and 12.2 million likes shows that the topic of national leaders and heroes is the main topic that this young man loves and focuses on expressing. With his artistic and creative abilities, this seemingly dry topic is approached in a fresh and inspiring way.
One of Vung’s favorite works is the “light sculpture” of the portrait of leader Ho Chi Minh and Ms. Vo Thi Sau. Using cardboard cut from instant noodle boxes, the Nghe An man cut them into small pieces according to his ideas and arranged them on a flat surface. When using light to shine on one side of the completed work, the shadow on the wall behind will be the portrait.Uncle Howith a map of Vietnam. Turned from another angle, the cardboard creates the image of Vo Thi Sau's face.
Also using light, another portrait of President Ho Chi Minh was made by shining a light from above. The shadows of the thin pieces of paper lying perpendicular to the background of the painting fall down into dark patches, skillfully dotted to create an extremely unique and surprising portrait. The cutouts are sometimes filled with clear sky, sometimes placed on a cool green tree background, sometimes placed on the chest of the shirt... Vung brought the paper cut portrait of Uncle Ho to many places in Japan.
In the list of inspirational characters of Vung, there are also Emperor Quang Trung, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Ms. Vo Thi Sau... Along with the heroic musical effects, songs praising the homeland and country, Hoang Van Vung's works have touched the patriotic hearts of Vietnamese citizens. Below the comment section, many accounts said: "So emotional, I got goosebumps watching this clip"; "Proud to be Vietnamese!"; "Uncle Ho is always in our hearts"; "Thank you for making these works, grateful to the national heroes"...
Sharing about his creative inspiration from historical figures, Hoang Van Vung confided: “As a Vietnamese, I am proud of my country’s history, of our national heroes and I want to tell this to the world. Living far away from my homeland, I choose to express that love and pride in a way that best suits my circumstances, strengths and abilities.”
Vung's way of expressing himself is not simply to motivate himself, to express his admiration and desire to follow historical figures. Under all posts related to Vietnam, Vung always includes the hashtag #Hoang Sa, Truong Sa belong to Vietnam (in English or Vietnamese) as an affirmation and reminder to everyone.
The journey of pursuing art
In the clips posted, Vung often films the entire process of making and the final result of the work. That is why viewers can easily imagine and feel Vung's dedication, difficulties, worries, perfectionism, and meticulousness in each creative product. But that is only a small part of the artistic pursuit that the Phu Dien boy has gone through...
When talking about Vung, relatives, teachers and friends are deeply impressed by his innate painting ability since childhood. Seeing his talent and being encouraged by everyone, Vung's parents also intended for him to pursue an artistic career. However, the family's economic situation made this intention impossible. Although he did not attend any formal art school, because his passion was in his blood, Vung maintained the habit of self-studying and posting on online painting communities. Unexpectedly, Vung's paintings were loved, giving him his first opportunity to earn money: Taking on online portrait drawing jobs to earn extra income.
“My family has 3 brothers, my two older brothers also worked in Japan. During high school, partly because of difficult circumstances and lack of confidence in my own abilities, I did not take the university entrance exam but registered for military service. Unfortunately, a defect in my ribs made me ineligible for military service, so I decided to go to Japan with my brothers. But unlike my two brothers, I do not just want to work to earn money, I want the money I earn to help me study and continue pursuing my artistic path,” Vung confided.
During the time he was studying the language and waiting for work orders, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, and Vung had more orders to paint murals to make ends meet. Not only painting, this young man also searched and experimented with many other creative ways of expressing his art... Not only painting, Vung also learned to master some common musical instruments.
Vung confided: “Although I didn’t have any formal training and only drew by instinct, I’m quite good at memorizing and imitating images. I follow many artists online and learn from their methods to express my ideas. Methods like paper cutting, creating light shapes, drawing with both hands at the same time… are all skills that require a lot of time and determination to perform. With wall drawings, they cannot be erased so you have to be extremely careful. While painting takes many hours to complete, light sculptures can take many days with many repetitions, meticulous in every detail, and if you’re not persistent, it will be ruined immediately.”
Despite his passion, Vung also had periods when he rushed into work and earning money, forgetting the path he should take. “After arriving in Japan, during the first year, I took on a lot of work and worked from morning to night every day. I worked so much that I had no time to rest or learn the language, my body was always tense like a guitar string. It wasn’t until the Japanese government “whistled” me for working more than the prescribed number of hours and only approved a 4-month visa that I came to my senses. Only then did I look back and decide to work less, spend time on my passion, and study seriously. My hair salon and TikTok and YouTube channels were born from there…”, Vung confided.
With skillful hands, a talented aesthetic eye, a neat personality, and a love of beauty, after 2 years of studying the language, Vung enrolled in 2 years of service training and 1 year of hairdressing. Although he has not graduated yet, the hair studio at Vung's boarding house is very famous in Japan, trusted by many international customers. The series of clips sharing Vung's hair cutting work received very high reviews.
Sharing more about his future plans, the gentle boy with a scholarly appearance Hoang Van Vung said: "I will continue to pursue the pathartwith the view of not limiting creativity and continuing to improve skills to affirm one's own brand - the brand of "a Vietnamese person".
