WATERCOLOR Articles 4 min read

Toan Nguyen’s Watercolors Show Symbolism and Contemplation

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Embracing Impermanence: Toan Nguyen creates watercolors that are layered with meaning—and his top award-winning painting in this year’s Watermedia Showcase is no exception.

Even just a cursory glance at Toan Nguyen’s prizewinning portrait Impermanence (below), suggests that there are multiple messages waiting to be discovered from the elaborate, detailed portrayal of this young woman. Whether in this or other paintings in Nguyen’s portfolio, the artist is clearly after a deeply personal expression of what concerns him or matters most to him in life. “My mindset as it relates to my art is to reveal my true nature more and more,” he says. “It could be a look, a thought or a personal feeling about what I observe, care about, love or worry about in society and life. I want to express these feelings in the sincerest way possible.”

The 36-year-old artist was born and raised in Hung Yen, Vietnam. He currently resides in Hanoi, where he runs his studio and teaches watercolor classes to young artists. Since he was a boy, Nguyen has loved painting and was always particularly drawn to portraits.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Industrial Fine Arts, in Hanoi, with a concentration in interior decoration. When his longtime passion for painting resurfaced, however, he decided to pursue fine art instead. Today Nguyen is well-versed in creating works in a variety of media, but there’s one medium that he favors above all. “I can honestly say watercolor is my favorite medium,” he says. “I love the clarity and light- ness of this material, as well as the challenges it affords me as an artist, because—as a medium—it’s one of the most difficult to master.

Impermanence by Toan Nguyen (watercolor on paper, 30 x 40)

An Epiphany

As someone who spends a lot of time processing the world around him through paint, Nguyen is prone to visions and imagery that bring clarity and order to certain aspects of life that are difficult to digest. The pandemic over the last few years is a prime example, and during this time the artist brought many of his ruminations to life on canvas and paper.

Impermanence was prompted by a video that was circulating early on in the pandemic, which made a lasting impression on Nguyen. “Not long after COVID-19 broke out, I saw a video of a man making a paper airplane out of money and then throwing it from a building onto the street below,” says the artist. “His entire being exuded despair. That scene really woke me up, and I gained a deeper understanding of something I’d been contemplating for a while: All we have is temporary and borrowed. When death knocks on the door, we can’t bring anything with us. No one escapes the invariable laws of birth, aging and death. Therefore, if everything is impermanent, we should enjoy every moment we live and work. If we leave behind a little fragrance from the good things we do while we’re alive, that’s the happiest thing.”

To bring these thoughts into reality for his painting, Nguyen began by making several graphite sketches to work out his ideas for the portrait composition and the arrangement of objects he wanted to include. “I spend a lot of time watching and reading the news,” he says. “That contemplation often inspires flashes of ideas.” To preserve those ideas quickly, Nguyen first sketches them in pencil. The sketches include several outlines that mostly define the composition, particularly in terms of the arrangement of the main objects. To clarify his intentions, the artist invites models to pose for him, then moves on to sketching the main details in watercolor from there. “Of course, I also add details from my own imagination to manifest my intentions,” he says.

Using a classical realist technique and multiple layers of watercolor for the piece, Nguyen created an almost oil-like appearance in the paint but, because
of his deft handling of watercolor, the matte appearance that typically accompanies works of that nature is instead replaced with an airy and refreshing clarity of color and light in every brushstroke. “I had to draw very carefully for this painting because I wanted a high degree of realism and finish,” says Nguyen. “I’m grateful to have largely succeeded in that difficult effort. Some of the ideas for Impermanence are particularly applicable to the medium of watercolor, as the moments for controlling the paints can pass quickly. I feel blessed to have achieved some mastery of this medium.”

A Universal Message

One typical element of classical realism that the artist did retain was going all in on allegory throughout the painting. From the young woman’s soft but piercing eyes gazing above her mask to the inclusion of two crows in the design to the stacks of money in a basket and folded into what looks like a floral bouquet, Nguyen certainly didn’t shy away from symbolism in this award-winning work. “The crows symbolize death, the mask represents both disease and time, and the money folded into flowers and placed in an ordinary basket creates a sense of discomfort,” he says. “Normally, we think of money as something that must be secured, such as in a safe, but in the context of a world facing a pandemic—especially before vaccines had been developed—money seems no more valuable than any piece of paper we might fold and toss away.”

One of the factors that makes an image compelling is when it’s both personal for the artist who created it and universally understood by viewers. “What excites me most about Impermanence is that I got to process my personal experiences while creating this piece—and the finished painting became a reward for my emotional labor,” Nguyen says. “Fortunately, the message I had in mind came through, and the work has been well-received by many people.”

That was certainly the case on the jurying side of this competition as well, where Impermanence took First Place, not only for being topical but also for being a testament to the power of what a masterful use of watercolor can achieve. “In addition to the intriguing storytelling power of the piece, the artist has also painted an exquisite portrait,” says Watercolor Artist editor-in-chief Anne Hevener on behalf of the editorial team who juried the submissions. “The subject’s direct and piercing gaze takes hold of the viewer and doesn’t let go.”

About the Artist

Toan Nguyen (nguyentoanfineart.com) was born in An Thi-Hung Yen, Vietnam, and graduated from the University of Industrial Fine Arts, in, Aligarh, Vietnam, in 2015. When it comes to his art, Nguyen says his current mindset is simply to reveal more and more of who he is. “It’s a look, a thought, a personal feeling about the things I observe, love and worry about in life,” says the artist. “That is—and always will be—the main source of my inspiration for all of my artistic endeavors.”

Allison Malafronte is an arts and design writer and editor and a regular contributor to Artists Network magazines.

Meet Ryan Fox, the 14th Annual Watermedia Showcase Second Place winner, here

See the winning work of Peggi Habets, the 14th Annual Watermedia Showcase Third Place winner, here.

To see all of the award-winning work in the 14th Annual Watermedia Showcase, check out the Spring 2023 issue of Watercolor Artist

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