By reusing an object as well as giving it a new ability and a new life through restructuring, Vietnamese artist Tia-Thuy Nguyen utilized a ton of welding rods to create an artwork called ‘Hoa Doi’ (Flower of Life) and displayed it at an exhibition in France on Saturday.

In Vietnam, Tia-Thuy Nguyen is not only known as a fashion designer with the Thuy Design House brand, but also as an artist. 

‘Flower of Life’ is the name of the exhibition and her artworks were inspired by her life and loss after the passing of her beloved father in 2022.

Tia-Thuy Nguyen said that his death urged her to return to the memories they had shared, and that she had learned to cherish every moment in life. 

“The loss prompted me to reflect more deeply on pain, the meaning of death, and the process of rebirth. This is also the inspiration for me to create the artwork 'Flower of Life' and explore the possibility of reuse and regeneration in life.”

“I believe that everything in this world has the ability to change and develop, just like a dead tree that can become a beautiful work of art.”

With inspiration from life, the artist said she has never felt depleted of such inspiration.

Starting to pursue fine arts in 1999, Tia-Thuy Nguyen has more than 20 years of experience working in painting and 12 years working in fashion design.

The derivative exhibition 'Hoa Doi,' with a thoughtful installation art product by Tia-Thuy Nguyen, took place at Château La Coste in Aix Provence, France.

Her artwork was created based on the trunk of an 18-meter tall oak tree that died on a road in France.

It took her two years to complete this work. The dead oak trunk is covered with stainless steel plates, while thousands of stainless steel leaves are hung on tree branches that were produced in Vietnam and were transported to France.

This entire metal plating process took more than 3,000 man-hours and nearly one ton of welding rods.

The exhibition featured more than 10 works of various genres and materials.

"What I am most proud of is that I have contributed to bringing international audiences closer to Vietnam's fine arts, and promoting the creativity of Vietnamese artists,” said Tia-Thuy Nguyen.

Before college, Tia-Thuy Nguyen was recognized as a phenomenon. Although she had just begun to be passionate about art at that time, her paintings were selected by several galleries for display. 

In the late 1990s, the golden age of Vietnamese fine arts, Tia-Thuy Nguyen accumulated a lot of experience in practicing and even selling artworks at Cafe Gallery, Gouman Gallery, the Hanoi Expo Center, and Impression Gallery in France.

2019 marked a key milestone for the female artist as her first artwork was displayed at Château La Coste in France. 

In 2022, Tia-Thuy Nguyen continued to make a splash for her return to Château La Coste for an exhibition, with her two artworks ‘Silver Room’ and ‘Floating in the Nothingness.’

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