Full name: Lương Ngọc Khánh Phương
Born: 1992
Residence: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Graduated in Literature and has several years of experience in teaching.
Since 2020, she has devoted herself to painting and actively participated in exhibitions:
- 2024: Solo exhibition “NGƯỜI ĐÀN BÀ” (The Woman), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- 2024: Group exhibition “VIETNAM TODAY”, Zaandam, The Netherlands
- Along with other group exhibitions in Vietnam
Artist’s Statement
THE WOMAN 2
“STRANGE SELVES” OR THE JOURNEY OF SELF-DEFINITION
In his lecture “Existentialism is a Humanism,” philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stated:
“… man first exists, faces himself, affirms himself in the world, and only then defines himself.”
The birth of an individual holds no meaning if that person refuses to commit, to “throw” themselves into society and bind with others. It is only through action and through the gaze of others that one can define oneself. To define oneself or to lose oneself—this difference lies in whether one lives true to their authentic being. If so, then indeed every “self” in this world is strange and distinct from all others.
This second solo exhibition is part of the ongoing project “The Woman,” envisioned as a long-term series that will continue in the coming years. The theme for this year, “Strange Selves,” presents 35 works, including 34 paintings and 1 installation.
The narrative of “Strange Selves” is the artist’s sharing—both as an experiencer and an observer—of the existential journey each individual must endure alone. All of us long to live true to ourselves. To be free. To be different. And thus, we inevitably become lonely—unable to fully connect or share with others.
The recurring subject across each work is the self: physically isolated and psychologically estranged. Loneliness to the point of distortion. Loneliness to the point of invisibility. Loneliness so profound that one no longer recognizes what loneliness is. Where does this complex arise? Perhaps from the lack of a common language—between individuals, and between the individual and the collective.
The viewer may find themselves in any of the figures, in any of the “selves” within these works. Each self undergoes scrutiny, judgment, probing, suspicion, envy, rejection, isolation, alienation, separation… from other selves. These conflicts lead to distance. Between differences lies distance. Distance is safety, is loneliness, is darkness. It is eternal otherness.
What I wish to convey is this: however long or short your journey may be, let it be a self in the truest sense. Within that so-called “self,” loneliness is an inevitable and human condition. It is what allows each person to discover their own definition of being.
(Artist’s statement)
Event