Artist Xuân Lam.

Xuân Lam is the first Vietnamese traditional painter to receive the Fulbright Scholarship from the US Department of State and is currently a candidate in the MFA Painting programme at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

His works have been awarded first prize and are in the art collections of the embassies of Germany and Italy in Việt Nam, and in the National Assembly of Việt Nam.

He talked with Luxuo.vn before he began his study at RISD.

You have worked with different genres, why did you return to painting?

I have experimented with different genres and materials but my core instinct has always been that of an artist. I always feel happiest when I'm working hard in my studio, when I dip the brush into the colour and put it on the canvas.

If anything, my easel painting combines different "spices", depending on the message I want to convey, or flexibly changes according to the objective factors of each project.

I used to lack confidence about my own path, but now I have more confidence to return to pursuing painting and contribute to its countless nuances of expression.

Could you introduce your latest series, Head in the Clouds, Feet On the Grounds this year, how did you begin it?

I'm always fascinated by the past, I envision myself as a combination of a visual artist and an archaeologist who works like a disc jockey.

My body of work is like a Rubik’s cube wherein each facet explores myriad overlooked aspects of Vietnamese culture.

The idea for the latest series came to me during the social-distancing period in early 2020. At that time, I spent time researching Vietnamese life through photographs from the 19th-20th century on the internet.

Using Photoshop I took characters from the original black and white photos and put them on an imaginary painted background. I also use collages from printings of hot issues and modern images aiming at highlighting the contrast between the past and the present.

My first series Folk Paintings: The Remake is the blending of pencil drawing with digital gradient colour, creating an effect that I once thought would be near-impossible to do manually.

In this project, I want to challenge myself and create work that looks like it was done digitally but is in fact all hand-painted. My aim is to explore the limits of easel painting and blur the lines between painting and digital graphics which are two aspects of my art.

You have made commissioned works. Which do you like best?

My favourite is Five-Fruit Tray in ceramic. I made it by commission of the embassy of the Netherlands on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

I'm honoured to receive the commission from the embassy. The embassy made a few small suggestions and gave me full creative licence.

The Netherlands is not only famous for its windmills, tulip fields and as the cradle of golden age of art, but this country also has the second largest agriculture in the world. It is also one of the largest investors in Việt Nam among European countries. The two countries have co-operated in fields such as import-export, sustainable agriculture and climate change.

While, Delft Blue pottery technique is a cultural pride of the Netherlands, the Vietnamese are proud of the hundred-year history of Bát Tràng and Chu Đậu pottery.

The five-fruit tray reminds people to think about cultural value in each Vietnamese family. It is also a reference to the agricultural and artisanal common ground between the Netherlands and Việt Nam.

The composite-made original is displayed at the Dutch embassy. Another copy was made by artisans in Bát Tràng and me, and it was granted as a present of the embassy to Vietnamese leaders.

'Five-Fruit Tray' by Xuân Lam.

Who are your favourite artists?

I like researching colours and I am always fascinated by Henri Matisse, David Hockney and Jules de Balincourt. They are masters in using colour.

Pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein or Keith Haring inspire me with their way to blur the line between pop culture and fine arts, making fine arts closer to the community.

Current artists Luiz Zerbini, Kehinde Wiley, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Nicole Eisenman or Arghavan Khosravi are also favourites.

Common among these artists is a serious attitude to their work. They are creative, diligent and full of energy. They are very technically proficient artists, but that doesn't mean their work lacks depth.

Given a chance to meet and talk with popular artists, who would you want to meet?

It is a difficult question. But I admire British singer George Michael. He was at the top of his career in the early 1990s with Grammy-winning album Faith. He refused SONY Records' offer to record the second Faith.

He donated all profits of the immortal Christmas song Last Christmas to Ethiopia famine relief. His music is also over ethnic borders and he is one of the rare white artists loved by the African American community. I hope my art can reach such a diverse audience.

If you could travel to any time and place, where would you go?

I feel lucky to live in a challenging and interesting present, according to Internet language, I can say: "What a time to be alive."

But if I could travel into the past I would like to go to the Beaux-Arts de Paris school at the end of the 19th century, visiting the Gustave Moreau workshop where Henri Matisse and many world famous artists practised. I learnt French when I was small. I spent all my childhood dreaming of this school.

Anyway, I am still extremely grateful to reality for giving me the gift of studying abroad in the US and it is even sweeter than a dream. - VNS