Coloring "Memory Clouds"

It is not by chance that the exhibition is titled “Memory Clouds”, because the artist currently lives in Saigon. These paintings were painted in Saigon. Leaving Hanoi at the age of 19, Kim Ngan spent more time in the South, but Hanoi is still a large space in her heart. The space is filled with images of clouds, trees, electric poles and houses, along with a lot of love for it.

Kim Ngan does not fantasize this love, the cloudy sky, the electric pole, the house... still have the full appearance of reality in each painting. But at the same time, they become signals that lead the viewer further than the usual reality. The houses are separated from each other, stacked on top of each other, spread out horizontally, standing vertically, connected by tree roots, vines, or electric wires, even by the clouds... making the scene surreal. The clouds spread down to the ground surrounding the house, reflected through the broken and patchy brick walls, but it could be an illusion that the clouds are still in their place, it is just that the houses in the artist's memory have flown away.

The blue sky, white clouds, and colorful clouds contrast strongly with the images of old houses with mottled walls, rusty iron door frames, or electric poles; somehow, they are connected to each other through the roots of climbing trees, through the tangled wires. The roots of time or the strings of reality, every appearance has its reason and logic.

Kim Ngan's memories of Hanoi, therefore, are not only memories of a city she left at the age of 19, but also memories of her return when she chose to live in Saigon. These are memories that are nurtured and continued. The rows of trees did not shed their leaves so much before, the rows of vines were not so tangled and strung together, the plastic chairs were not as colorful, the air conditioners and electrical boxes were not installed on the outside of the walls of the houses... But even so, the quiet atmosphere imprinted in her heart did not diminish. The changing winds of the seasons could make the sky grayer or bluer, but they could not blow away the flavors of heaven and earth accumulated in each house, each street here.

Kim Ngan draws with pencils, her color palette is not at all eye-catching in the fresh, bright, and vibrant way. Moreover, instead of drawing with colored pencils on paper, she draws on canvas. The adhesion of colored pencils to the canvas is less than on paper, so she draws many layers, and after each layer, she covers it with a protective layer before continuing. Each painting like that cannot be drawn quickly, like layers of memories slowly built up over the years. The artist no longer worries whether these are memories of memories or memories of reality, they are simply memories in her heart, memories of a land, a cultural region that stretches far and wide.

How old and new are intertwined is the picture of life of many generations of Hanoians. In the picture, fans, lamps, houses, doors, desks, flower vases, chairs, traffic signs... are still here, but the city is completely quiet, there is absolutely no shadow of any specific person, no vehicle. It is difficult to say whether Kim Ngan's memories are sad or happy, or both, but it is certainly not a sigh. The houses are like clothes hanging out to dry, like floating clouds, like standing pillars, like wells... making the memories of Hanoi and Hanoi itself become valuable.

Looking at “Memory Clouds”, viewers are reminded of the short animated film “The House of Little Cubes” (2008) by Japanese director Kunio Kato. The owner of the house is an old widower, one morning he woke up to see water flooding his room, so he immediately started building another floor. Unfortunately, while working, his favorite pipe fell to the floor below, which was already filled with water. When he dived down to retrieve it, old memories emerged one by one. Each floor he dived down to is a layer of memories, recalling the image of his wife, daughter and his youth - where the house was originally built on dry ground next to a tree...

Just like “The House of Little Cubes” or “Memory Clouds”, no one says that the old life is more valuable or the present life is more valuable to a person, because time and change are things that no one can resist. But perhaps thanks to the years that have passed, there will be houses that continue to be “built”, pictures that are “painted”, in one way or another. And so, along with memories, art can make good things multiply, live many times, by many more people.