This is his remarkable return after more than a decade, continuing to affirm his own path in the world of contemporary Zen and calligraphy.
In the context of the increasingly vibrant artistic life of Ho Chi Minh City, the exhibition "Mentioning in Life" creates a rare space of silence. Tram Kim Hoa has been a practicing artist of meditation for decades. From exhibitions in Australia, Canada, Malaysia..., he gradually shaped a painting style with a meditation spirit, combining lettering and water prose in his own way.
This exhibition continues the creative process that the artist has built since the 1990s: using only ink and water, minimizing images, expanding space for viewers to enter the inner world themselves. For him, meditation painting prince the idea of the scene and form as secondary. He considers the perfect circles, curves, and planks as the closeness of breath, where the thoughts and souls are in harmony. The space in the painting is not the part that is left behind, but is a place for viewers to contemplate and feel the "nothingness" - the spirit of sharpness, not sharpness.
curator Ly Doi commented that the exhibition is "a necessary supplement" when in the midst of the flourishing of contemporary fine arts, there are still few walkways for meditation ideas. Researcher Quach Cuong also believes that Tram Kim Hoa chooses the path of silence, painting with alertness and letting things not lead viewers into a still space.
From a professional perspective, international curatorates have judged that his paintings contain "the philosophical intelligence, simplicity and humor of meditation". Through many changes in life and inner changes, that spirit in the painting is now more independent, open and permeable.
Mete in Life does not seek to impress with complex colors or layouts. That is the artistic journey that Tram Kim Hoa invites viewers to take: slow down, look deeply and find a moment of peace amidst the ever-flowing flow of life.
The exhibition is open until December 7 at Chillala House of Art.
