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Image 1 of 1
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Image 1 of 1
By Le Pham Xuan Nga
Unique
‘This portrait was painted as my first khai bút of 2024, the Year of the Dragon. Khai bút - meaning “to begin writing” - is a Vietnamese Lunar New Year tradition of making the first creative mark of the year to invite clarity, inspiration, and good fortune.
The subject is a creative whose minimalist approach I deeply admire, almost the opposite of my own maximalist design sensibility. Painting her became my own version of khai bút: a quiet act of discipline and reflection at the beginning of a new cycle. In choosing to begin the year by studying an aesthetic so different from my own, the work became an exercise in attention rather than expression and a reminder that growth comes not from reinforcing our instincts, but from spending time with what challenges them.’ -Nga
By Le Pham Xuan Nga
Unique
‘This portrait was painted as my first khai bút of 2024, the Year of the Dragon. Khai bút - meaning “to begin writing” - is a Vietnamese Lunar New Year tradition of making the first creative mark of the year to invite clarity, inspiration, and good fortune.
The subject is a creative whose minimalist approach I deeply admire, almost the opposite of my own maximalist design sensibility. Painting her became my own version of khai bút: a quiet act of discipline and reflection at the beginning of a new cycle. In choosing to begin the year by studying an aesthetic so different from my own, the work became an exercise in attention rather than expression and a reminder that growth comes not from reinforcing our instincts, but from spending time with what challenges them.’ -Nga