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| Dang Thi Thu An beside her artwork |
With over 20 years of painting, she has found her path by observing and contemplating the stories of women she has encountered and experienced in life. In her paintings, women never carry a fixed beauty, as she shares: “The people I interact with daily all have different personalities: Some are very gentle, some are outstanding, and some are both sweet and elegant. Therefore, there’s no reason to confine oneself to a stereotypical image in artistic language. It should be a continuous flow and always changing.”
Dang Thi Thu An’s works often portray women in subtle moments, expressing their inner beauty. She uses vibrant colors and soft lines to create seductiveness and gentleness while expressing diverse emotions from joy to sadness. This not only demonstrates her painting technique but also shows the depth of her artistic thinking.
Generally, all her paintings depict women in áo dài or elegant and graceful poses. The characters in her paintings are stylized with slender body features, slightly elongated faces, and soft brush strokes. This creates a surreal, highly artistic feeling, helping to convey ideas about beauty, sacredness, and tranquility. Each work is carefully crafted in its use of color. They are diverse but not flashy, ranging from warm tones like red and yellow to cool ones like blue and pink. These colors create a strong contrast and blend to create a balanced and harmonious composition.
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| One of Dang Thi Thu An’s artworks |
Dang Thi Thu An pays great attention to color elements in her work: “I often use yellow in my paintings, but when viewers observe, they will notice that this yellow isn’t overused, but still maintains Hue’s ancient character while exuding openness.” The colors don't remain stagnant. When looking at them, one can feel their warmth or even the splendor of an entire dynasty. The significant presence of yellow is used intentionally by Dang Thi Thu An to express the elegance and solemnity of the Nguyen dynasty’s past that is pervasive throughout the painting. Another characteristic is that the painting’s composition emphasizes symmetry and harmony. Female figures are usually placed in central positions, with curved and soft lines. The symmetry and balance in composition create elegance and refinement.
She has seemingly found a unique value in each girl that she can unlock and vividly bring into her artworks, reflecting the inner self when viewing beauty from a physical perspective. Thus, the perspective of viewing the works is unlimited. If others were to evaluate the maiden image within herself, it would perhaps only be partially correct in the works she has expressed. The contemporary female image she pursues is not confined to old stereotypes, yet breaks barriers to bring humanistic and liberating values.
One of her outstanding works is “Ngũ Sắc” (Five Colors), which was honored at the 7th Ancient Capital’s Literature and Arts Awards (2018-2023), affirming her talent and artistic vision. “Ngũ Sắc” focuses on female figures, áo dài, cats, and contrasting color schemes that are both ancient and modern. The women in the painting are depicted with graceful, gentle postures and contemplative, mysterious expressions. They are portrayed in bright, strongly contrasting colors like green, red, yellow, pink, and blue. Each woman is accompanied by a cat of matching color. The soft, flowing brush strokes create a floating sensation, along with vibrant colors highlighting the beauty of the áo dài and women. We notice the cats seemingly representing characters that are both vivid and gentle yet independent, adding depth to the character’s personality. The image of a cat with scratching, stroking, or walking actions brings suppleness, softness, and seductiveness, which can be associated with female beauty.
She believes: “When using cat images, I often personify them, not just as real cats, but through them, each girl’s personality will be clearly expressed. I always like to use the image of an object, then personify it and combine it with other images. The combination of women and cats is a typical example of how I express this idea.” Overall, “Ngũ Sắc” is a highly creative work in terms of color, detail, and composition while possessing profound aesthetic value, subtly reflecting traditional and modern beauty.
“I don’t just explore cultural characteristics but want to create differences in creativity. I want to use human images that carry the breath of a new era. When we live in a certain era, we should look at many issues from that era’s perspective, including artistic images. We have the right to create based on ancient cultural foundations, but if we keep maintaining narrow thinking patterns, it will no longer suit the era we are living in,” shared Artist Dang Thi Thu An.