Artist Nguyen Tan Phat introduces a unique collection of tigers.

For the 2022 New Year, artist Nguyen Tan Phat of Duong Lam ancient village, Son Tay, came up with an idea for the collection of 2022 lacquered tiger statues.

This is his next big project after the collection of 1010 painted buffalo statues to celebrate the 1010th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in 2020.

Every tiger is unique. Each work is a folk story about the king of the forest, or has impressive ancient and traditional patterns.

The unique tiger statue project was conceived by artist Phat two years ago. Currently, he has completed half of the works, and is expected to complete the collection for an exhibition on April 30, 2022.

Nguyen Tan Phat said: "With a passion for fine art and Vietnamese culture, this year, I launched a collection with the number of works corresponding to the number 2022. Thousands of unique tiger works hand-crafted by me will bring interesting perspectives to viewers."

According to Phat, the tiger image has long been popular in folk art. Compared with many other animals, tigers are rarely exploited in contemporary art.

Recently, products with tiger images have been produced for decorative purposes and souvenirs, but usually for mass production.

However, the tigers in this collection are not industrially produced, but are unique and different, aiming for traditional artistic value.

Each tiger statue is completely handmade by Phat. He came up with ideas, molded them, carved shapes on wood, and then covered them with layers of paint, polish, and inlaid pearls.

Each work depending on the size, can take from a few days to a month to complete.

Each work is unique.

In addition to the material of jackfruit wood, and laterite covered with lacquer, artist Phat also uses mussel and egg shells.

Besides tiger-centered designs such as boxes, flowerpots, and tea tables, many tiger statues also have complex shapes with meanings such as: "Tiger with wings" with the desire to give people strength and will to fly high, or "Bird's nest on the back of a tiger" with the desire to bring protection, peace and warmth.

The collection has 2022 unique tiger works to welcome the year of the Tiger.

Through this collection, Nguyen Tan Phat hopes that people will change their view of the tiger as a dangerous animal and accept the image of a more friendly tiger. He also wants people to celebrate the creativity and traditional craft of sculpture and lacquer.

Because of their elaborate nature, showing the essence of Vietnamese traditional handicrafts and lacquerware, each tiger has a high value.

To complete a work, artisan Phat has to perform many stages.

The collection, in addition to greeting the new year, is also a celebration of creativity and traditional artisans.

Each work is a combination of sculpture, lacquer, pearl inlay, and eggshell mosaic.

The works are cherished by Phat at each stage, which can take up to a month to complete.

Each work is unique with different functions.

The image of the king of the jungle.

The image of the tiger with wings with the wish that people have more strength and will to fly high.

The collection is expected to be completed and released to the public on April 30, 2022.

A collection of chairs with the image tigers.

Unique tiger works are displayed and sold at prices depending on material and size.

The unique set of "Five Tigers" chairs with a size of 1.2m wide, 1.5m high, and a weight of 60kg/piece is being valued at hundreds of millions of dong by the artist.

It is expected that this unique tiger collection will be completed and introduced to the public on April 30. In addition, painter Phat is also working on other year's unique mascot sculptures.

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