As Above, So Below

Curiosity for our environment is what drives our knowledge.  This natural sequence stems from our perception and Vu Q. Nguyen’s artwork persuades us look beyond that surface. As a nature-inspired artist, he believes in the importance of organic interactions and how these impact our lives in a number of ways.

“My interest in the relationship between nature and humans stems from my family and how I grew up. Farming and agriculture played a big part, from places where we plant the food we eat to creating a sense of community. Like many artists, I look to nature to find inspiration but for me it is important to represent nature's influences on every day life. We leave our 'human' traces where we live but how that affects other parts of the world in not very apparent,” he says.

What you might immediately notice in Nguyen’s paintings aside from the beautiful blends of colors are the shapes and dimensions.  It all comes down to perception, whether we’re focusing on the bigger picture or just a specific part of it. Whichever way you see it, the context extends like an infinity pool of abstraction where the details take over the entire canvas. The gentle colors and gestural marks represent something that can’t be ignored, which are part of the overall abundance of emotion being evoked beyond the top layer. These marks are all unique in shape, brightness, opaqueness, and stand out to complement the environment, yet show us that one detail cannot exist without the others. Even if parts of the painting stand out, they all belong to the whole, which is the way nature and experiences work. There might be good, bad, surprising parts to everything we experience, but if one hadn’t occurred, then we wouldn’t have the same results after all.

Nguyen explains, “I had a deep interest in storytelling when I first began my career. I represented those stories with symbols and figures. Most of my early works contained symbols that were culturally specific and figures of family and friends whom I knew well. I wanted to tell their stories while incorporating an element of place. Over time my work became more abstract which for me was a natural progression because I became more involved with traveling and nature. I felt that I could tell my story better with more of an emotional expression rather than pure representation.”

The abstract shapes represent the complexities of everything we see in life, yet everything portrayed has many layers, like the physical earth does. These layers can portray anything you imagine, even though Nguyen’s work is built on his travel and organic experiences, what you see can also be applicable to the overall environment within life. Everything in our environment is layered because nothing is really black and white, there are more shades of gray than anything else, which again leads us to perception and how we may see the surface and what lies underneath. Think of each layer and pigment in the paintings as what is beneath each person, the earth, feelings, reactions to actions, among other examples.

“My works over the past five or more years have been linked to land in the sense of how it's divided over time. I incorporate this with things that I find interesting in that area. I make small sketches that represent patterns of what I see. I start the base of my paintings as maps some real, some I make up. Then I put layers of patterns that I've collected more of which will obscure all the drawing underneath. I use a wide variety of mediums. Currently I create a lot of my work using dry pigment. I tend to use drawing as painting so oil sticks, pens, markers, charcoal/graphite is my main go-to,” he says.

There is a sense of looking within and without when you’re observing these landscapes.  This causes you to look into what is there from the inside, meaning the layers and what completes the whole or it causes you to look at the bigger picture, as if you’re looking at things from the sky. It all depends on your personal viewpoint, which relates to how you look at things in life: Are you looking at the details up close and analyzing every single thing that is presented right in front of you, or are you pulling back and analyzing things from afar and getting a gist of what the overall message might be? That is the question.

Nugyen exhibited his work at the Foundry Gallery in Washington D.C. this past spring. For more about the artist’s work, please visit his website.

Today’s poem represents the detail of emotive color and movement found in Vu’s paintings:

Field of Moving Colors Layered

BY TINO VILLANUEVA

I’m not easily mesmerized.

But how can you not be drawn in by swirls,

angles and whorls brought together to obey

a field of moving colors layered, muted ...

others bright that make you linger

there?

Just look at those Carpaccio reds.

Right then my mind

leaps to Cezanne:

his dark-blue vest in Self-Portrait (1879–1880);

the Seven Bathers (ca. 1900) wallowing in blue;

his blue beyond in Château Noir (1904).

Consider now the three, or is it four figures

in Alberto Valdés’s Untitled (ca. 1965).

They are wayward energy, moving right

to left (the right one more sensuous than the rest)

about to dive

into the deep-blue waiting — call it the unknown.

I’d like to be there when they meet that blue abyss

head on.

Will they keep their shape, I wonder,

or break up and rearrange themselves

into a brighter, more memorable pose

... into a bigger elemental thing?

I’m really asking this:

When they run into the landscape of blue,

will these figures lose their logic of luster?

Will they lose their lucid argument of color,

their accumulated wealth of geometry?

Will they still engage the entire me,

hold me,

keep me mesmerized?

A Walk in the Rainforest

Figure 1. One of Brugmann’s mural in Brazil.

The South American landscape is both a natural gift and a mysterious force. For many South Americans, the tropics of the rainforest represent the heart of a continent that has endured so much socially, environmentally, and politically. As each country continues to evolve from setbacks, the artists living there remind us of the beauty and resilience that’s very much present within the people, the scenery, and the culture.

Argentine artist Miriam Brugmann is part of a forward thinking sociopolitical mentality, which seeps through the messages in her work. As a resident of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her main muse is the verdant landscape surrounding her. Brugmann’s ceramics and paintings connect us with a mystical and beautiful world she creates to embody the liveliness of South American life; one that is constantly immersed in the unapologetic lifestyle of the people, the music, the appreciation for nature, and the streets of Brazil.

At the beginning of her career, Brugmann focused on paintings and illustrations. She then moved on to ceramics by creating utilitarian items such as flowerpots, cups, and plates. But something changed in her imaginative process and called her to become more message/goal driven with her work.

“There wasn’t a big creative process and it was all very basic, which wasn’t making me happy. I wasn’t conveying what I really wanted to get across. So I began creating unique ceramic pieces and I also returned to painting and making murals, leading me to the creative process again. I started finding and defining my style and focusing on what I wanted to communicate. Right now I’m between ceramics, illustrations and murals,” she explains.

Brugmann channels the spirit of her environments in her work as an avid observer of how everything represents a force beyond the ordinary; from the variety of plants to the colorful animals, to the empowered stance of Latin American women.

Figure 2. The artist and her work.

She adds, “Nature and the Brazilian landscape are crucial to my work, especially Bahia, which is very exuberant, and also Rio. There are a lot of mountains, trees and nature is everywhere. It’s very lavish. You’re looking at it the whole time and the images stay with me and go directly to the work I’m making.”

The rainforest elements in Brugmann’s work are a symbol of refuge that encourage viewers to connect with their roots and to embrace who they are today in relation to the culture from which their ancestors come from.

Figure 3. Ceramic pieces are part of Brugmann’s artistic talents.

Her ceramics are inspired by pre-Columbian pottery from Peru and Mexico. A style she first fell in love with at the Museo Rocsen in Córdoba, Argentina, which houses a collection of over 18,000 pieces of archaeological objects from all around the world. One can see where the inspiration emerged for her ceramics, as pieces from ancient Mexico and the Inca empire often portrayed daily details about how people lived and their environment/resources. When you observe Brugmann’s creations, you notice a sense of strength and beauty that capture the native life and its connectivity with nature and a higher ancient power. Her creations tell us that there’s so much to learn when it comes to culture, and if you look past the superficial elements you’ll find a world thriving in its organic existence beyond stereotypes and any social or political struggle.

A strong overarching theme in Brugmann’s artwork also points to female empowerment.  She explains, “[In my work] the care and respect for nature are aspects that were always present. And women, well it can be translated to something feminist like a message… there’s a support and a presence for that cause in my life.”

Figure 4. Empowering messages for the people of Latin America are important in Brugmann’s work.

The women portrayed in her paintings resemble mythical beings with a strong mission to positively affect their lives and communities. Some embody a messenger or spirit animal quality to them. With angelic wings and a fierce stare, these pieces evoke strength and a connection to native cultures, including those indigenous to the rainforest. They represent women who are in touch with their inner power by fending for themselves, the animals, and nature overall in a peaceful yet assertive manner by prioritizing mother nature in a similar way the native people of South America did since pre-Columbian times.

In a way, Brugmann’s work shares the evolution of these women, who like myself, have witnessed social change that hasn’t always been in our favor. Yet thanks to these transitions, more South American women feel revolutionized to embrace their inner power while creating resistance and awareness on human rights and the rights of many generations of women to come.

Explore more of Brugmann’s work by visiting her page. All photos courtesy of the artist.

* Interview translated from Spanish.

The following prose is inspired by the strength and love of nature found in Miriam’s artwork:

at the maracuyá tree

By claudina milagros

On the left side of the maracuyá tree sits my mother,

Her face reflects anxiety of the past.

I tell her she raised two strong daughters who turned into mothers

And that painting those neon floral tablecloths at the market was her artistic gift.

She smiles and pours fresh soil at the base of the tree.

Humidity is in the air.

On the right side of the maracuyá tree sits my sister,

Her peaceful face reflects hidden fear of what’s to come.

I tell her she raised two resilient boys, and that she makes a rainy day seem sunny with her laughter.

She smiles and waters the soil all around the tree.

In front of the maracuyá tree stands my reflection

It asks, “What do you see?”

“ I see discernment in the eyes of the moon and the sun. A woman whose work has been transformed but is not yet done,” I reply.

A ripe maracuyá falls at my feet. My toes are sprinkled with soil.

I pick it up along with my shovel. I walk, dig and plant a small fig tree.

For another mother, another sister, another friend and another daughter.

The cerulean bird follows my steps as I walk towards home

My hand guided by the burning sun behind the lush trees of the rainforest.

*Note: maracuyá is passion fruit in Spanish.