TIA-THUY NGUYEN

'Silver Room' by Tia Thuy Nguyen now belongs to the prestigious Château La Coste art collection. This is the first piece in her on-going series of site-specific installations, which challenges natural light, space and time. The ‘Silver Room’ masterpiece is around the same size as a real house, consisting of 3 layers of wood - stone blocks - and a white quartz statue on a jackfruit wood pedestal, hidden in the midst of the hills of Aix-en-Provence, France. The unique open roof design of the following artwork allows sunlight, rain, dew, wind and other weather phenomena of the setting be interacted with in various ways. At the right moment of the day, the light will pass through the slit between two stone blocks to illuminate the ‘soul’ of the artwork in the middle of the room. In Buddhism, there is a term referred to in Vietnamese as ‘duyên,’ which describes multiple aspects,  such as time, place and circumstances falling into one right moment to reveal something life-changing or enlightening. This special terminology is emphasised and thoroughly explored in this art piece, as it has profoundly affected Tia-Thuy Nguyen. Silver Room with its multi-technical interaction (assembly, sculpture, lacquer), uses both light and shadow to bring unique visual-spiritual effects. This work illustrates her ideology and beliefs in a peaceful, natural environment, amid the conflicts and constraints of modern society; between desire and letting go.