ArtBlue Studio

Slumber

Artist Profile

Born in 1983 in Dong Nai, Vietnam, Nguyen Khuyen solely dedicates herself to the traditional technique of woodcarving and woodcut printing.

The woodcut printing goes back to a Vietnamese ancestral tradition. The artist carefully carves a board of wood to create the negative image of the picture. The board will then be impregnated with ink, a sheet of paper applied on it, and by rubbing on the back of the paper, a print will be realised. The rubbing phase takes a few hours per print and is critical: Depending on the emphasis the artist puts on an area, the colour will be lighter or darker, allowing him to create subtle nuances on paper. This board will be kept and used for a maximum of 8 impressions.

After having dedicated herself to teaching the technique of Vietnamese woodcut printing to the younger generation of artists in Ho Chi Minh city, Nguyen Khuyen was discovered by chance in Ho Chi Minh city by ArtBlue Studio in 2015.

Since 2009, her inspiration often turns towards her two children and the happiness of family life. "I hold them in my arms, and I realise: Here is the future, here is life. It is magical and I feel happy and full."