Sparkle in the Vastness
Tia-Thuy Nguyen’s first show with Almine Rech presents a suite of
more than twenty multi-media paintings from the artist’s ongoing series “I, my, me, cloud”
For Tia, clouds are like a blank canvas onto which elements like color, form and materiality are not intrinsic, but imposed. What we see as clouds are really the results of multiple external factors such as light, wind and moisture levels, all of which are constantly in flux.
Light also plays a key role and is therefore a major subject for the artist. Rooted in the Quantum Theory of Light, Tia’s paintings conjure photons (the minute particles that make up light itself) via tiny glass beads, each of which reflects light differently to give the impression of an oscillating surface. With a nod to the French Impressionists, who conceived a new style of painting based on their desire to capture the effects of light on landscape, Tia has found a mixed-media technique that brings painting beyond mimesis or expression and towards experience.
