Vietnamese-Belgian Painter Portrays Homeland Through Algorithmic Paintings

Painter Thi Nguyen introduces paintings to Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium Nguyen Van Thao and his wife. Photo: VNA

On the afternoon of Monday, in Brussels, Belgian-Vietnamese painter Thi Nguyen Truong Minh introduced an exhibition of paintings on the topic of origin.

Black and white paintings created with tiny wavelength images printed on paper depict scenes of family life in Vietnam. It is the image of Thi Nguyen's grandparents, buffalo, village bamboo rampart, or chopsticks, indispensable items in Vietnamese meals. Especially, Thi Nguyen's paintings are all drawn by algorithms. If you look closely, those are just small lines, but from a distance, it is very impressive.

Scenes of daily life in the family of painter Thi Nguyen in Vietnam are drawn by computer algorithms and printed on dó paper. Photo: VNA

Painter Thi Nguyen said he was born and raised in Belgium. He has always wanted to understand the social constructs of the cultural identity concept . Having dual Belgian-Vietnamese citizenship made him learn about the cultural intertwining, which is spread in his daily life, both in the Vietnamese way and in the Belgian way. Therefore, he always wants to understand his roots, where his grandparents and parents were born and raised.

He used family documentary photos and then drew on the computer using wavelengths. This is a completely new technique, showing the author's creativity to express the feelings of an expatriate who always remembers his homeland and his roots.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium, Nguyen Van Thao, was moved when looking at the works of painter Thi Nguyen. The Ambassador hopes that the second generation of Vietnamese youth in Belgium will always preserve, promote the patriotism and cultural identity of their homeland, spread Vietnamese culture to international friends.

The image of painter Thi Nguyen's grandparents is drawn by computer algorithms and printed on dó paper. Photo: VNA

Thomas Grivengnee, a visitor to the exhibition, said that he was very moved by Thi Nguyen's paintings. These are paintings full of memories, nostalgia for the homeland. As a friend of the artist, through these works, he understands more about the past of Thi Nguyen's family, about the culture, country, and people of Vietnam, and images of a completely different life from Belgium.

He graduated with a degree in plastic, visual and spatial art from the School of Graphic Studies in Belgium. After experiencing and exchanging art in Vietnam, he decided to pursue a Master's degree in political science and graphic design.

Painter Thi Nguyen creates art on the street. Photo: BQT

Painter Thi Nguyen is also the co-founder of "Blender", a cross-cultural artistic collaboration project between the French-speaking Belgian Community of Wallonia-Brussels and Vietnam, implemented in Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, he is also a lecturer in visual arts at Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts.

This is the 4th exhibition of artist Thi Nguyen in Belgium. He hopes that after the Covid-19 pandemic is under control, he will continue to carry out many projects in Vietnam as well as teach students in Vietnam algorithmic painting techniques.

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