Trần Thu Hằng is known for her incredibly lifelike wooden dolls, which she’s been making since 2006. But she’s more than just a doll maker.
Maia Do talked to Hang about art, new ideas, and about not becoming known as one half of an art couple.
Photographs by Nguyễn Hoàng Giang.
On more than dolls
“I don’t want to be attached to the image of an artist making dolls and then just stay there. I’m afraid of the feelings of standing still in one place, staying inside the comfort zone, not daring to step out of it.”
“I will continue to make dolls, but if one day I suddenly fall in love with sculpture, I’ll turn to it. Maybe even minimalism or something like that, like it and I’ll do it. Then if all of those cannot express me, then I’ll head in another direction, to comics maybe, or anything I like. Simply, we should think of our art as if it’s not for the audience. Art is for us to enjoy it, to live for it, to want to live to express art and ourselves, not just to pursue something. If people care about it, okay, that’s a big reward. But if we keep pursuing that, eventually, like [with drugs], [the reward] will not last for long, it will fade away.”
On being married to an artist
“We don’t like to be interviewed as a couple, because later on when people hear about Thanh Phong, they would think of the person, not his work. I’m not very fond of that; I want people to think of [art] when they talk about Tran Thu Hang, and how her [art is], not how I am. Ever since we got married, people kept saying how cute we are as a couple. They wanted to interview us as a couple about our lives and how we fell in love.”
On exhibiting
“Each exhibition is like an opportunity for you to open the door for people to see you; you will not feel comfortable anymore. Imagine you’re talking to friends, when someone puts a camera in your face; you know you’re being observed and suddenly you cannot talk naturally anymore. That’s why I want to go back to level zero.”
On art as play
“My husband used to ask me every time an artwork comes out, and it’s different from the previous one, “Would you be worried when people start asking questions?” Why would I? I do art for me to have fun, why be so stressed about it? I don’t want people to define me with just one thing. I play at art, so I don’t care. Let me put it this way, if we consider our lives as a game, our art will be more innocent. What is art? It’s the thing I want to express, the thing that is born inside my head, simple as that, why do we need to try so hard? If we are too worried about what people might think, how can we have initiative? Whatever you do, you need to do it with initiative, and spirit. If we only copy then we will always be second.”
On not being a tortured artist
“Maybe it’s just me; I don’t like doing anything burdensome, that’s why all the artwork I do are light and small. In my exhibition, I wanted to write a sentence “no matter who you are, no matter what your position is in society, no matter how rich or poor you are, if you’re successful or not, once you step inside, please leave yourself behind, and live your childhood once again.” It’s like please leave your shoes outside and enter. I mean you have to forget all the burdens on your shoulders, to go back to your childhood, something simple and innocent.”
