Nguyen Kim Thai
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Song of the Nation 2
Though Nguyen Kim Thai has worked across diverse media and themes – from oil, gouache, and silk to landscapes, scenes of everyday life, and war sketches – her enduring passion lies in the depiction of women. In her paintings, female figures often appear in ordinary settings and are shown in their most elemental state: free of clothing, unguarded, and simply themselves. For Kim Thai, these are not merely nude paintings, but tributes to what she calls the “primordial beauty of humankind” – a beauty that is ancient, timeless, and the very root of our shared cultural heritage.
Her works are marked by a deliberate reduction of volume, favoring the balance of composition and color over anatomical precision. Kim Thai seems to abstain from depicting musculature; instead, curves and bodily movement are suggested through the model’s pose, brought to the fore on backgrounds that are at times serene, at others punctuated by unconventional bands or swaths of color. The result is a heightened sense of abstraction and a spirit of liberation, offering viewers a space where feminine beauty is celebrated with sensitivity, freedom, and grace.