Abstract painter Nguyên Cầm on the evolution of his art, not repeating yourself and being a citizen in the land of art.
Nguyên Cầm has been making art since he was 14 years old painting shop signs for businesses in Vientiane Laos. That was over 50 years ago. Since then he has become an internationally collected and exhibited French trained artist. Steering away from real and still life, opting instead for bold brush strokes and colours to create abstract collages, he also uses unusual, carefully selected materials such as jute sacks, tea bags and Vietnamese calligraphy in his creations. He aims to evoke both the beauty and suffering in the ordinary daily lives of those who have lived through extreme moments in history and continue to live with those memories.
Nguyên Cầm’s work over the last two decades has been greatly influenced by coming back to Vietnam twenty years ago for the first time since fleeing as a teenager. After spending over 30 years in France he felt ambushed upon his return to Hanoi with memories and emotions. They filled him with the need to reconnect and find his unique place and identity in the country.
Interview & Translation by Tabby Chino ● Edited by Rose Arnold ● Photos by Yên Nguyễn
&: What are the new characteristics of the work you are exhibiting now?
Nguyên Cầm: This Retrospective exhibition is about the 20 years since my first return to Vietnam in 1994. I’ve brought 30 new works I created within the last three or four years, all of which are the fruits of a more profound, more spiritual stage in my art. I used brighter colours and simpler techniques to paint. It gives a hint of something dissolving into the air, because this is abstract art. During this new period I have created works that depict the impression, the imprints this stage has made on me.
&: How has your art changed over the last 20 years?
Nguyên Cầm: My art changed when I came back to Vietnam. Everything I learned before that was theoretical, real art is what is inside your heart. Returning to my father’s land and observing all the signs of poverty and the war, I was moved. There was something inside me that turned upside down and led me back to my Eastern origin. Later on, when my soul had quieted down, the effects of Asian philosophy and of this spiritual part of me became more important. My art went in that direction.
It is such a long time since I did a portrait, or indeed any other kind of concrete subject. I painted only one self-portrait in my entire life, Gauguin style. I used to do a lot of portraits for people just to have enough money for my journey to France. Once I set foot in France, I vowed to myself never to paint a portrait for anyone again. But perhaps I’m still making portraits, only in a more abstract manner. Aren’t all these works portraits of my own soul?
&: You use very similar materials and symbols in many of your paintings, how do you ensure you are not just repeating your earlier works, and at the same time are always expressing yourself fully?
Even masters can fall into the trap of repeating themselves. Ever since I discovered the path that is meant for me, I shrugged off all their influence and listened to my own feelings only.
Nguyên Cầm: There are no borders for my art now. I express myself without restraint in my paintings. I found my own path, now all I have to do is keep delving and exploring that path. It is no longer a struggle to find the most satisfactory techniques and ways to express myself. I’m on a quest only to follow my own spirit, my inner sense. Each painting of mine expresses something unique, different from the others. The only thing they have in common is that I was honest with myself, true to the voice within. When I was younger I was much inspired by the masters of the world. But even masters can fall into the trap of repeating themselves. Ever since I discovered the path that is meant for me, I shrugged off all their influence and listened to my own feelings only. I’ve also been searching for new things on my journey to avoid duplication.
&: Some new artists try to avoid being overly influenced by world renowned painters. But it could be argued that really they lack knowledge of art history and of the masters’ works, and because of this produce ideas that already exist. What is your opinion about this?
Nguyên Cầm: As a traveller down the road of art, one must first learn everything so he won’t copy what others have created, or even what he himself has created. Once he knows all about the predecessors’ works and remains true to himself, that’s when he can build something new and of his own. You should not follow the world’s trends either. Artists all over the world create what people favour. I am not one of them. I do what my heart tells me to do, it’s much like writing my own diary. If I ever repeat what I’ve already done, it really irritates me. The further you travel down your own path, the harder it gets, the bigger the challenge is, but the more satisfying the rewards.
&: You used to have to make art for money. Did you find this an uncomfortable compromise that conflicted with your pure passion for art?
Nguyên Cầm: Before I travelled to France, the single resource I had was my passion for art. I was 14, I inherited the love for art from my family but I had no idea how to paint properly. My father let me discover that myself. I read books on the world’s masters. Like all Vietnamese painters back then I was hugely influenced by them. When I came to France, living in that environment and having more opportunity to study the lives and works of these masters, I realized that even the most talented artists had to spend time looking for their own path. I did art for money as a way to support myself through these days. It was like an investment, the profit is that I can paint whatever I feel like painting now.
&: You have said that you are ‘a citizen in the land of art’. What does that mean?
Nguyên Cầm: I have lived in Vietnam, Laos and France. All of them have become a part of my art. I am a global art citizen who doesn’t belong to one particular country. Art is the only indicator of my nationality. In that nation, art is a religion itself because art is the good, the one thing that perfects a human being. In that land of art I am free to express my every happiness, sadness, joy and depression in my paintings.
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‘’The 20 year retrospective of Nguyên Cầm’s work Imprints of Origin will be on display at Art Vietnam Gallery until 14 January. The artist lives and works in Pairs. Find out more about his work and life on his website: www.artistnguyencam.fr
