After engaging with French art enthusiasts at the Almine Rech Paris gallery earlier in 2024, Vietnamese artist Tia-Thuy Nguyen returns to Almine Rech Monaco at the end of the year to present the Burdening Dream exhibition.

The event is scheduled to take place from December 10, 2024, to March 1, 2025.

With 18 artworks, including 16 paintings and two sculptures, titled Burdening Dream, Tia-Thuy Nguyen brings the next chapter in her series of visual dialogues and playful interactions with light to Almine Rech Monaco.

At the opening event, Prince Albert II, along with colleagues from the art world, collectors, organizers, and friends from various places, gathered to celebrate with the Vietnamese artist.

Notable attendees included singer and artist Bono of U2 band, painter Guggi, the founder of Almine Rech gallery, businessman Patrice from Mareterra, and the former minister of state of Monaco.

All were present to congratulate and thank Tia-Thuy Nguyen for her contributions over the past three years in completing her permanent installation dedicated to Monaco.

Before Burdening Dream, the public had the opportunity to admire the installation Drops of the Sun at Mareterra, a new complex in Monaco, and the Lady Cloud sculpture – a collaborative piece with Christian Dior Couture – featured in the Lady Dior As Seen By exhibition.

Sharing her feelings on the opening day of her second solo exhibition, the visual artist Tia-Thuy Nguyen said: “I still felt a bit nervous before the event began.

“For me, this is a monumental occasion. Standing before legends like Renzo Piano and Tadao Ando is both an honor and an immense pressure for an artist with relatively young experience like myself.

“Thanks to the encouragement of my family and friends, I was able to ease the emotional ‘burden’ of anxiety.

“This series of works marks a significant step forward for me, utilizing materials such as quartz, recycled glass, and dó paper (crafting mulberry paper) – a traditional handmade material of Vietnamese.

“Viewers might resonate with the sense of a ‘sky’ that I present in the Burdening Dream exhibition, inviting them to reflect on whether the burdens I carry are truly heavy or as light as a playful interaction with light – gathering, reflecting, and amplifying.

“Through the audience's gaze, I realized that this sparkle serves as a stepping stone for us to confidently overcome the weight of existence, and perhaps most importantly, to find beauty amidst the storm.”

Can the vast sky ‘burden’ an artist's dream?

The Burdening Dream collection captures the beauty of the expansive sky through countless hues and perspectives.

It seems Tia-Thuy Nguyen has gazed at the sky millions of times to distill its essence into her creations.

Across the Universe and Galaxy, you will find yourself admiring romantic pink clouds blended with a delicate mist from an intimate vantage point. 

After the Rain, a sweeping upward glance reveals the vibrant green of the land below, while the sky becomes a dance of pink, blue, and purple clouds intertwined in every shade. 

In Get Away of Yesterday, you encounter a breathtaking sunset over the azure sea, where all the light seems to erupt in a final, brilliant display before darkness descends.

Yet, those clouds are at times imbued with the artist's own emotional states. 

Breakthrough of the Feeling, In the Middle of Nowhere, Just Own the Night, and Tension so Intense, these are reflections of the artist’s inner struggles and profound contemplations.

“Perhaps I’ve forced myself to become what I aspire to be without realizing that I’m the one burdening this dream?” Tia-Thuy Nguyen wonders.

“Or maybe my dream of the clouds is weighing so heavily that it cannot moving?”

Bringing glass into artworks

For this collection, Tia-Thuy Nguyen introduces glass as a material for the first time.

She replaced natural stones, a medium she is familiar with, with shards of glass bottles.

The Vietnamese artist explained that, unlike quartz, glass is rigid, more likely to cause injuries during the creative process, and less accommodating for capturing the fluidity of cloud-like forms. Nevertheless, she mastered the medium, using it to craft striking contrasts in her artwork.

Traditional techniques such as paper crafting, embellishment, and watercolor painting remain Tia-Thuy Nguyen's strengths and are integrated into her pieces.

The role of light cannot be overlooked – it is the star element that makes her works shine.

Light passes through transparent crystals and glass, casting shimmering reflections across the surface of the artworks, bringing the lively clouds with every movement of the viewer.

The artist's deep reflections

The artworks that Tia-Thuy Nguyen brings to Monaco encapsulate the artist's innermost thoughts.

The exhibition serves as her response, an open expression of her dreams, and a testament to her inner strength, showcasing the more complex facets of the artist.

Another new element in this collection is the incorporation of tiny figures nestled among the layers of clouds.

These figures evoke the fragile balance between the struggle to reach freedom and the heavy pressure of expectations.

The clouds, seemingly light, carry the weight of stone, highlighting the inherent contradictions in the artist's creative journey.

Like a mantra for the future, Tia-Thuy Nguyen's exhibition not only immerses the audience in a dreamlike world but also depicts resilience and perseverance.

It serves as a reminder that despite the storms, the sky will shine again, reflecting her own inspiring and determined creative journey.

The 18 artworks are displayed in two rooms of the renowned Almine Rech Monaco art gallery.

Prior to this, Tia-Thuy Nguyen's exhibition Sparkle in the Vastness at Almine Rech Paris also garnered significant acclaim.