Trương Công Tùng
As time passes through shadows..., no. 12, 2023 - ongoing
Lacquer on terracotta
30 x 30 cm
32 x 32 cm (with frame)
32 x 32 cm (with frame)
'In the painting series As time passes through shadows...(2023 - ongoing), where Trương Công Tùng experimented with lacquer on terracotta, the artist selects and intertwines a constellation of natural forms(flowers,...
"In the painting series As time passes through shadows...(2023 - ongoing), where Trương Công Tùng experimented with lacquer on terracotta, the artist selects and intertwines a constellation of natural forms(flowers, leaves, termite wings, ember spark, rain droplets, fire flight glows, etc.), body organs (a tooth, hand with curved fingers, or hipbone), and abstract flows and strokes that invoke the presence of sublime, even divine, energy. Due to lacquer’s palimpsestic nature, where each concealed layer is partially revealed through the act of sanding, the audience can catch a glimpse of the aforementioned forms buried beneath the painting‘s surface; their presence now takes on spectral qualities as they shift in and out of our view. Despite the painting’s seemingly static surface, if we were to unfocus our eyes, we could tune into the slightest tremble from the images beneath: a finger flick, a bony shiver, a wavering grass blade, or a fleeting termite wing. All of them constitute memories of the soil, forest, water, sound, light, and colors of Tùng’s absent homeland, compressed into each resin layer. To him, each sanding stroke serves as a violent and self-destructive act, as he chafes away his own memories of the land. But it was also the sanding process that purifies and solidifies these mnemonic forms, allowing them to congeal and form a multilayered visual expression, in which we can observe the overlapping flows of time and the fragmentation of space. And water, ever forgiving and soothing, will wash away the pain of erosion."
- excerpt from Dương Mạnh Hùng, essay "Sowing Seeds and Opening Eyes: Trương Công Tùng and the Garden of Mythical Mundane", for the solo exhibition "The Disoriented Garden...A Breath Of Dream...", Sàn Art, Ho-Chi-Minh City, 2024.
"In the painting series As time passes through shadows...(2023 - ongoing), where Trương Công Tùngexperimented with lacquer on terracotta, the artist selects and intertwines a constellation of naturalforms(flowers, leaves, termite wings, ember spark, rain droplets, fire flight glows, etc.), body organs (atooth, hand with curved fingers, or hipbone), and abstract flows and strokes that invoke the presenceof sublime, even divine, energy. Due to lacquer’s palimpsestic nature, where each concealed layer ispartially revealed through the act of sanding, the audience can catch a glimpse of the aforementionedforms buried beneath the painting‘s surface; their presence now takes on spectral qualities as theyshift in and out of our view. Despite the painting’s seemingly static surface, if we were to unfocus oureyes, we could tune into the slightest tremble from the images beneath: a finger flick, a bony shiver, awavering grass blade, or a fleeting termite wing. All of them constitute memories of the soil, forest,water, sound, light, and colors of Tùng’s absent homeland, compressed into each resin layer. To him,each sanding stroke serves as a violent and self-destructive act, as he chafes away his ownmemories of the land. But it was also the sanding process that purifies and solidifies these mnemonicforms, allowing them to congeal and form a multilayered visual expression, in which we can observethe overlapping flows of time and the fragmentation of space. And water, ever forgiving and soothing,will wash away the pain of erosion."
- excerpt from Dương Mạnh Hùng, essay "Sowing Seeds and Opening Eyes: Trương Công Tùngand the Garden of Mythical Mundane", for the solo exhibition "The Disoriented Garden...A BreathOf Dream...", Sàn Art, Ho-Chi-Minh City, 2024.
- excerpt from Dương Mạnh Hùng, essay "Sowing Seeds and Opening Eyes: Trương Công Tùng and the Garden of Mythical Mundane", for the solo exhibition "The Disoriented Garden...A Breath Of Dream...", Sàn Art, Ho-Chi-Minh City, 2024.
"In the painting series As time passes through shadows...(2023 - ongoing), where Trương Công Tùngexperimented with lacquer on terracotta, the artist selects and intertwines a constellation of naturalforms(flowers, leaves, termite wings, ember spark, rain droplets, fire flight glows, etc.), body organs (atooth, hand with curved fingers, or hipbone), and abstract flows and strokes that invoke the presenceof sublime, even divine, energy. Due to lacquer’s palimpsestic nature, where each concealed layer ispartially revealed through the act of sanding, the audience can catch a glimpse of the aforementionedforms buried beneath the painting‘s surface; their presence now takes on spectral qualities as theyshift in and out of our view. Despite the painting’s seemingly static surface, if we were to unfocus oureyes, we could tune into the slightest tremble from the images beneath: a finger flick, a bony shiver, awavering grass blade, or a fleeting termite wing. All of them constitute memories of the soil, forest,water, sound, light, and colors of Tùng’s absent homeland, compressed into each resin layer. To him,each sanding stroke serves as a violent and self-destructive act, as he chafes away his ownmemories of the land. But it was also the sanding process that purifies and solidifies these mnemonicforms, allowing them to congeal and form a multilayered visual expression, in which we can observethe overlapping flows of time and the fragmentation of space. And water, ever forgiving and soothing,will wash away the pain of erosion."
- excerpt from Dương Mạnh Hùng, essay "Sowing Seeds and Opening Eyes: Trương Công Tùngand the Garden of Mythical Mundane", for the solo exhibition "The Disoriented Garden...A BreathOf Dream...", Sàn Art, Ho-Chi-Minh City, 2024.
Exhibitions
2024 - Untamed Souls, duo exhibition, ASIA NOW - 10th anniversary edition, Galerie BAO, Paris, France2024 - The Disoriented Garden...A Breath of Dream, solo exhibition at Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.