Beautiful Vietnamese windows in the eyes of British artist
British artist Bridget March believes windows and doors are what make streets everywhere distinctly different, and has traversed Vietnam with her brush to capture the architecture heritage beauty of Vietnamese windows.
The 61-year-old artist from Leeds is displaying the best Vietnamese window works she has painted in the last two years at an exhibition titled “A Window on Vietnam” in Ho Chi Minh City, which runs from November 4 to 19.
Bridget told Tuoi Tre News she hoped her pictures will help people realize how much the windows and doors “contribute” to make the streets distinctly Vietnamese.
To her, windows and doors are what make streets everywhere distinctly different.
“I want people to have a closer look into Vietnamese windows, want them to walk around Saigon, feel appreciate these beautiful windows and wonder if they mean something,” she said, using the former name of Ho Chi Minh City.
“When they understand, they could love the city more and want to preserve its values.”
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The artist added that she also wants people to “appreciate the beauty of Vietnamese architecture heritage, as well as hope them could learn to appreciate beauty around them.”
One of the interesting things Bridget enjoys about painting Vietnamese windows is that a single window frame can sometimes be a combination of different cultures from different countries.
For example, it could be a Chinese-style patterned windows with the French-style air vents, or a Vietnamese window next to an American chain fence, something she said could be found nowhere but Vietnam.
One exhibition-goer, American Rebecca Tumicki, told Tuoi Tre Newsthat seeing Bridget’s paintings brings about a feeling of being in the places the pictures depict, as well as encouraging her to visit places she has not been to in Vietnam.
“The colors of the paintings are vibrant,” she commented. “I also find fascinated of windows as it is Vietnam’s signatures.”
Having lived in Vietnam for more than three years, Bridget always spends time on travelling and paintings.
Sometimes she would spend a few months in the central tourism city of Hoi An, or visiting Hanoi or just wandering around Saigon for inspiration.
Every time she finds something to paint, the artist always tries to sketch and “catch” the atmosphere of the object before bringing the painting home and finish.
Besides, she also puts effort in studying historical and cultural values behinds her objects of painting, from people to architectural works.
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Before “A Window on Vietnam,” Bridget has had several Vietnam-themed exhibitions.
She has also published two paintings books about northern mountainous tourism town Sa Pa and Hoi An.
The 61-year-old also has plans to make another book of Saigon, where she now lives.
“A Window on Vietnam” is open to visitors at Vin Gallery in District 2, where Bridget will also run two workshops with all proceeds going to the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation.