About Me (Ngoc Nguyen) or Maria :)

Three: The Fragile Aboriginal women

Maria Nguyen
Linoleum print on Cartridge

   Throughout the Aboriginal history, the piteous women have been treated poorly. They have experienced violence and abuses. Some are mysteriously gone missing. They also have been murdered cruelly and pitifully but unfortunately no one has ever said a thing about it. This piece of art was made as a sincere voice to show strength and resilience toward them. For this project I unhesitatingly chose rose as my choice of flower. Every kind of flowers have its own beauty but I especially love roses because they help me to convey a significant meaning in this project.  

     Roses are the most beautiful flowers with variety of brilliant colors and a special, unique and sweet fragrant. Each color has a very different meaning. Possessing a captivating and attractive beauty, they have always universally represent women, the fragile humankind on this planet. When the viewers observe my flower, they will find a combination of three colors in it. Yellow roses represent friendship, admire, joyful, gladness and delight toward a woman which convey a message that all the Aboriginal women have the right to enjoy these elements in their life. Red roses have a color language of love, respect and courage. Us, frail women in general and Aboriginal women in particular deserve to be loved, to be protected and to be respected. Blue roses have very special color compare to others. They symbolize peace and liberty which shows that the Aboriginal women should be free and live in peace instead of lamentably having to face with violence and mistreats. When the linoleum was carved out to form this beautiful flower, it created some white negative space between the colors. White is the color of purity, innocence and reverence in the Aboriginal women who are totally worthy to be treated gently just like the way people cosset and take care of these flowers.  
     
          This was my first time using the carving tool to create this linoleum print so they were not very familiar to me. However, l am still very content and happy with the result that l have got. l hope that people will understand the message that this flower holds after they have read my blog. Sincerely thank you :) !!!

     

Four: The Ruler of the Sky

Maria Nguyen

Markers on Paper, 2013.

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       This piece of art was inspired by the heroic Aboriginal culture and specifically the North Coast art style design. When we mention the word "Aboriginal", many people will automatically think about a stately eagle outstretching his mighty wings. From a long time ago, the Eagle has always been "the master of the sky" who also has the closest relationship with the Creator. Since Eagle has such a sacred and spiritual meaning to the Aboriginals moreover it is also the symbol of wisdom, swift and strength so I decided to choose it as my animal for this Marker drawing.

       My outstretched Eagle represents the friendly Aboriginals who always open their arms and hearts to accept and welcome other people into their lives which is fulfill with love and happiness. The three main colors that I used throughout this project were red, black and white. Those three colors also appear on the Medicine Wheel and they create a balance combination that somehow looks very Aboriginal. This Eagle was. created with some basic shapes such as form line, ovoid, S shapes and U shape. It is identified by its strong curved beaks, heavy body and clawed feet. His wings were formed by four identical U shaped feathers joined to a simple designed ovoid which holds a secret message that the Aboriginal people from young to elder all look toward one the direction and together they build a strong, powerful and robust tribe that has existed from generation after generation. The reason that I did not want to make it too complicated was because there are already a lot of details on its face, body and wings so I wanted something not too elaborate nor meticulous in the middle to balance everything and it also helps the viewers not to get dizzy when they look at my drawing. His body is an abstract body which was form by two horizontal S shapes and one center ovoid inside of a big U shape. I tried to focus on every little detail within the body because it is the center of my Eagle. I especially love the two feet because I artfully put together all the shapes from formline to ovoid to S shape and rearranged them so that they can form into a foot and have a close connection between each other. If you take a closer look you will easily notice that the four feathers of the tail have the same elements and colors as the ones on the wings. The moon inside of his eye symbolize the sacred Creator and the Mother Earth that as a meaning that the Aboriginals always respectfully worship and look upon to.

I have to say that this drawing was the biggest project which required a lot of energy and creativity that l have ever done. It took me only one day to draw, design, color and everything. I was so excited and passionate about this project because this area was something brand new to me that I had never learned about. I love the Aboriginal people as well as their culture and everything else. I hope my beautiful viewers will love my mighty Eagle. My only wish is to hear a comment from a Native Aboriginal about this drawing but l wonder if my dream could ever come true...
:) :)....

Anyway,
THANK YOU for spending your valuable time to view my art work. <3

Two: Majestic Eagle Mask

Maria Nguyen
Majestic Eagle Mask, 2013 

Acrylic on Clay

         This particular piece was inspired by the Pacific Northwest Coast Art in general and Haida religion Art in particular. Haida professional artists put everything they've got into their masks and bring them to life with their extraordinary skills. These masks comprise particular elements such as formlines, ovoids, U shapes and S shapes. Depends on different coast, these shapes will have distinctive characteristics. Animal masks are very recognizable through their special and unique teeth, ears, tails, and many other elements. For this project, I decided to choose Eagle as my animal. From a long time ago, the swift and mighty eagle has always been the ruler of the sky. It strongly symbolizes the Aboriginals and also has the closest relationship to the Creator. 

        
        The three colours that I repeatedly used throughout the process of making my mask were black, red and white. Black as the first colour on the Aboriginal sacred Medicine Wheel which represents the West, physical and earth. Adjacent to black is the colour white which is the sign of wisdom. The third colour is red, a very strong and powerful colour in the Aboriginal culture which is also the symbol of innocence and trust. The last colour of the Medicine Wheel, which I did not choose for my mask, is yellow (gold). The reason that this colour does not appear on my mask is that even though it represents Eagle but it is a very garish and eye-catching colour so I think that it will not create a perfect and balanced colour combination if it goes with the other three.

       I wanted the features on my Eagle mask to be obviously noticeable so I decided to choose white as the background colour or the skin colour so that red and black can be responsible for the attracting the viewers part. The mask was formed by using some main shapes such as form-line, U shape, S shape, and ovoid with a statuesque and noble design. The special thing that I love about my mask is that it is side view instead of the popular front view. The reason that I decided to make it like this was that it would be longer in length so it can have more space for more ''ingredients'' (details) which will help it to not end up looking incomplete and empty.
       
       My mask is a semi-realistic design. The first unique characteristic that helps to identify the Eagle is the strong curved beak. "The mouth" has been formed as the S shape so that it helps to clearly express the strictness and augustness of the Eagle. I added a thin white line between the internal red part and the outside black part to brighten and balance the colours because the mouth would look dark if black and red were beside each other. I used the same technique for the little ovoid nose and the other two pieces, which I call them "decorations", as well. The most important element on the mask which is also the centre of attention is the eye. The eye is an ovoid shape with two pointy ends which help the Eagle to evince his cleverness and insidiousness. I purposely placed the eye slantingly in a particular direction to increase the wily look of it. Finally, the last piece that I want to analyze is the dark, angry eyebrow which is not the main element on the mask but does have a great impact in term of the face's expression. Since the eyebrow is also slanted in the same direction as the eye so when the viewers look at the mask, the irate, enraged look of the Eagle will be vividly and strongly convey through it. The final step of this process was outlining the edge of the mask with the black paint. It really helped the mask to look more clear and neat.

          "Majestic Eagle" was the first phrase that ever came to my mind when I was thinking about the title for my mask. I love it because the adjective is like a perfect combination of a ton of words which describe exactly all the distinctive characteristics of an eagle so I decided to go with it. :)

           This is one of my all time favourite project that I ever did in my Native Art Class. I think that I could have painted the mask nicer and smoother if I had more time since I spent too much time focusing on the shapes and details of the face. But in general, I tried my best and put everything I've got into it so I hope that every one will love my final product :)! Thank you.