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By its very nature, “sculpture” suggests “form.” To experience the bronze figurative sculpture of Vietnamese artist, Tuan, is to experience the human form glorified in bronze with masterful precision. However, the true uniqueness of his style is not only in the expression of human beauty, but in his ability to infuse physical “form” with an almost divine sense of weightlessness.
Tuan’s artwork radiates peacefulness and serenity through graceful lines and rhythmic compositions. While glorifying the human body, he, at the same time glorifies the human spirit, exalting the exhilarating experience of life. Tuan infuses his sculpture with a celestial beauty that carries his human figures beyond earthly existence and into the realm of the heavenly in quiet celebration of life. Modeled in clay and cast in bronze, Tuan’s sculptures appear to be magically suspended like angels on the wing.
The serenity and celebration reflected in his work comes in striking contradiction to Tuan’s own past. Born in Vietnam in 1963 to an artistic family, Tuan began sculpting at an early age. He experienced the fall of Saigon in 1975, survived a failed escape from his native land in 1987, and eventually escaped to the United States in 1988. Tuan studied at the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, CA from 1991-1995.
Tuan’s grandfather, Hoang Buu, a forth generation descendant of King Gia Long, lived in the region when it was French Indochina. He read and spoke French, and consequently, Tuan’s family was heavily influenced by European traditions. In contrast to the Vietnamese tradition of creating art for the sake of religion and the temple, repeatedly sculpting the same forms and figures, Tuan was driven to create art for his own expressive purposes. “Art is for humanity.” He emphasizes, “for the people, for everyone. I create universal art everyone can understand.”
Tuan has received the Gloria Medal from the National Sculpting Society (New York), a medal designed by C. Paul Jennewein and bestowed upon a young artist in Jennewein’s memory for a meritorious body of work as determined by the luminary board of the Society.His work has been exhibited throughout Southern California. Tuan has been commission for a number of public and private works, including a memorial bust for the Nicole Brown Simpson Charitable Foundation in 1997 and most recently a 15 foot monument for the City of Westminster, commemorating the partnership between American and Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War.
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