French artist Helene Kling wears her paintbrush on her sleeve – as it
were – and her deeply felt love for Vietnam is on show this month at
her latest exhibition Reve de Fer – Dreams of Iron.
The irrepressible zeal she feels for her adopted country can be
experienced by visiting her all-in-one house, gallery, studio and art
school in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2.
“I want to
show the passion that Vietnam has instilled in me. I paint my
impressions to capture this country. Through my paintings people can
feel the soul of Vietnam and my love for this country. Vietnam has a
beauty and constant change that makes it so special,” says Kling.
Her creativity has been driven by the emotions she experienced here,
where “every tear that fell in happiness, joy or sadness has instantly
found its expression through my paintings and has been translated in
color and material”, she said.
Kling left Paris in
1996 to live in Vietnam and spent the next 17 years honing her artistic
talents. On arrival she pursued her first passion, photography, then she
turned to painting, developing her skills with a paintbrush through the
earthy medium of oil on canvas.
“I think Vietnam,
specifically in Ho Chi Minh City, is where an artist like me can do
whatever I want and to earn a living. I can paint, sell my art pieces
and teach people,” she said.
In 2007, the artist
summed up her first decade of artwork in Vietnam through the collection
of paintings entitled Dragon Tears, then in 2011 published a second book
My Art Beat for Vietnam.
She has held a number of
solo exhibitions to date in the southern hub, featuring Vietnam’s
landscapes – and the women who reside in them – from mountainous Sapa in
the north to the Mekong Delta in the south. In her three-storey house
people can see images of women of many ethnicities and of all ages,
portraits telling their own stories.
“My artistic
research covers both a reflection of a woman’s image and the situation
of women in different societies. I have lived in Vietnam since 1996 and I
have seen the evolution of women and their roles in this country.
Vietnamese women are the essence of the land; they are its beauty, its
strength and its intelligence,” Kling explained.
“A
woman is a mother, a daughter; she is active, loving and a lover, but
still more or less used. In certain countries she is an image without a
spirit used for its beauty, in others she is hidden because of her
spirit and her beauty. Through my art, I decided to represent women in
all her forms,” she added.
Apart from her great
passion for making art, Kling has held painting classes for both adults
and children since 2000. In class she inspires and instructs students of
all ages on how to mix colors, how to use acrylic, gesso, gold leaf, or
different media, painting techniques and expression, and once a year
Kling exhibits her student’s work.
Budding artists
can attend her classes which run from 8am to 1pm on Tuesday and Thursday
(for adults) and from 3pm to 6pm or 7pm on Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday (for children). Her paintings can be viewed at 189/C1 Nguyen Van
Huong street, Thao Dien ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.-VNA