By Cheryl B. Scaparrotta / Correspondent
Thursday, June 23, 2005
If a picture is worth a thousand words, do a thousand words sufficiently describe the rich experiences of its artist?
During the month of June, approximately three dozen oil paintings are on view in the exhibition gallery at the Weston Public Library. The paintings are the handiwork of Khoi Nguyen, an artist who gained his formal training in Vietnam, but departed his native land 17 years ago to be reunited with his family and gain greater opportunity in America.
“Painting has come to me like a destiny,” explained Nguyen. “I devote myself to searching for beauty like a man dedicated to his day job.”
Nguyen’s works at the library range from the vibrant (like the still life titled “Red Onion”) to the soothing (such as “Leaf on an Old Book”) to the mysterious (witness his dusky “Tower Light”).
Nguyen departed his hometown of Saigon in 1988 under the Orderly Departure Program, created under the auspices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to permit immigration of Vietnamese refugees to America. Today, this Waltham resident has become one of the few working Vietnamese artists in the Boston area.
“During my first days in the U.S., I was eager to learn more about the art world, so I visited fine arts museums and galleries, especially in New York,” he recalled. “I found a world of freedom of artistic expression, and I discovered art and artists from all over the world.”
However, taking in museums wasn’t his only priority upon arrival in the U.S. He was also reunited with his wife and two children, who had come to America 13 years earlier as part of the first wave of Vietnam war refugees.
“I love every life, especially the kind of life rich with encounters,” he said. Some of his art reflects his feelings on being separated from his family.
Until recently, Nguyen worked full-time reproducing antique furniture, but now he is entirely focused on his paintings, often laboring late into the evening.
“Painting has become an integral part of life; it’s my breath,” he emphasized.
Some of his landscapes and cityscapes at the Weston library will be familiar to local residents, such as images of Harvard’s campus and rural New England autumn scenes.
Nguyen’s talent has earned him steady recognition. He has exhibited at Harvard’s Hilles Library gallery and Gutman library gallery, Boston City Hall’s Scollay Square gallery, and other locations in California and Maryland. He also served as a juror for the Smithsonian Institute’s touring exhibition.
“Through experience, I have discovered that art does not necessarily need, nor does it often follow, a certain set of rules or theory,” concluded Nguyen. “The beauty in art or painting need not be complex. Indeed, beauty manifests itself in simple and ordinary reflections of daily life.”
To see more of Khoi Nguyen’s works, visit “www.khoiart.com”
