Nguyen Tam Nham Sculpture

Sculptor turns black gold into fine art

Nguyen Tam Nham was born in one of Viet Nam's major coal producing areas, so naturally, coal played a major part in his development. Which might explain why in adulthood he has chosen to sculpt the rock. Nguyen Khanh Chi reports.

In 1840, Minh Mang, the 20th king of the Nguyen dynasty gave the go-ahead for coal exploitation in An Lang mountain area in what is now Quang Ninh Province's Dong Trieu District.

He could never have imagined that some 150 years later, black coal would be turned into extraordinary works of art under the hand of sculptor Nguyen Tam Nham.

For the 55-year-old artist, coal occupies a position of value between that of diamonds and gold, and is an ideal material to make fine art. Few think to use it beyond creating popular souvenirs for the market.

"Natural coal is a valuable treasure. The power of it being immortal because it takes at least 370 million years for a block to form," said Nham who grew up creating artistic coal souvenirs at Coc Sau Mine.

Of the thousands of sculptures he has completed over the decades, Nham's particular interest is in sculpting national and world figures, including General Vo Nguyen Giap, President Ho Chi Minh, composer Van Cao, and painters Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso.

His Picasso busts make up the majority of his work, and from these, it is understandable why he is so proud of the collection.

Speaking about Picasso, Nham could spend the whole day and might repeatedly use the word "obsession". "Obsession", he said, because he always feels a closeness when contemplating the painter's works. "Picasso was a genius, with the ideal of fighting for a peaceful world," Nham claimed in a heightened voice. "Besides, depicting a global icon, I would like to show that Viet Nam is integrating into the world. Nationality is interpreted through the language of the works, not the subject." "It speaks of Viet Nam's access to the civilisations around the world through the people and characters they love."

In 2005, Nham entered the Viet Nam Guinness Book Centre (Vietbooks) as the sculptor with the largest collection of Picasso coal busts. It took him almost 15 years to complete 56 portraits of the figure. According to Nham, the figure '56' refers to the year of his birth.

The busts were part of his first personal Ha Noi exhibition in 2004 under the auspices of the Viet Nam- Sweden Fund for Promotion of Culture. Culturist Nguyen Huu Ngoc, former chairman of the fund, acclaimed Nham as a rare coal sculptor, saying that the exhibition is unique and that "it is unimaginable how coal becomes an art material". "Normally coal exemplifies something dirty, ugly, glacial and negative. Coal-related work is graded as the lowest. But you have brightened up coal with the flames of art," Ngoc told Nham during their meeting following the exhibition.

The display received countless other comments as well.

Tien Dung - one of Viet Nam's leading art critics, said, "Nguyen Tam Nham is a phenomenon of Viet Nam's contemporary sculpture."

Sculptor Ta Quang Bao, chairman of the Sculpture Council, said Nham deserved the credit for exploring a new material for fine art. "Seemingly, no one has ever done this before. He is like a tsunami," Bao said.

Art critic Phan Cam Thuong wrote that the 56 busts of Picasso helped Nham easily navigate the multi-purposed world of coal and set himself apart from the sculpture world.

"Nham is second to none with respect to well-known sculptors over the past 100 years."

Apart from his Picasso busts, Nham also completed a collection of 31 sculptures of van Gogh from 1995 to 2008, which he looks forward to displaying in public in the near future.

Nham was born and bred in one of Viet Nam's major coal producing areas. Naturally, coal became part of his childhood's games. "When I was a little boy, I used to play with marbles. After growing up a little, I created paper weights and small animals from single blocks of coal for sale," he reminisced. Nham admitted that his passion for "playing with coal" shaped his life and became a basic language for sculpture.

Nham now lives in Ha Long City, but on a street corner at the far end of Bui Thi Xuan Street where he has a large space in a private and quite environment for his work. The house, perched on a hillside with a postcard picture view of Ha Long Bay, is filled with hundreds of coal sculptures displaying the evolution of Nham's style and versatility.

"I want to live up here to have enough room for carving and sculpting, with enough space for materials. I'm not fit for downtown," said Nham, fixing his curly, long hair.

Entering Nham's house, one will feast eyes on hundreds of sculptures of different shapes and sizes, but most sculptures follow the round-cube style, which he explains is the fundamental shape in sculpture. The sculpture does not depict actual subjects in detail, but one easily recognises who is who. For example, General Giap with a round forehead and shining eyes illustrating his humanity, writer Nguyen Tuan with his well-known moustache and thick hair, or Picasso's round head suggesting his progressive outlook.

"I love this land, I love and understand the face and breath of coal and even its dust," said Nhaâm, adding that his family has been settled in this land for a hundred years, generation after generation, and that he is well aware of all the paths to the mines here.

"However, love is not enough. Professional skill is a must because coal is brittle. We need to be carefully 'playing' with coal to get the desirable outcome," said the member of Viet Nam's Fine Arts Association and Quang Ninh's Literature and Arts Association.

At 48, Nham graduated from Ha Noi Industrial Fine Arts College. He admitted that he was lucky enough to receive a basic professional education, even though he has also self-studied coal for 35 years. Nham said he mostly sculpts people because it helps him discover himself while discovering and seeking the spirit of his subjects.

"I put my mind and heart into every work. It seems like overcoming a challenge. Failure or success, each work of art is a lesson for me in discovering myself," said Nham, adding that he loves being a sculptor of the Quang Ninh's coal land.