Sculptor inspired by perfect works of art

A serious accident while sculpting a statue killed thedesire to create in sculptor Le Cong Thanh, but the despondent man’strips to beer parlours changed all that. 

Waitresses he met at beer parlours were sculptor Thanh’s muse.

At 85, sculptor Le Cong Thanh cuts a petite figure,trembling slightly while walking but never without his smile, right fromhis limpid and kind eyes, and snowy hair.

Thanh lives in two adjoining flats at the Vinh Horesidential quarter in Ha Noi. The house where he lives with his painterwife Nguyen Kim Phai and a number of nude women’s statues resembles asmall museum of fine arts.

Born in 1931 in the central city of Da Nang, Thanh wasfamous as the creator of a number of outdoor statues erected across thecountry.

With a desire to install a sculpture in his hometown, in1985, Thanh built a Nui Thanh Victory Statue in Da Nang City. It looksout toward the East Sea.

While building the statue, Thanh fell from a height of 20m to the ground. He survived but was confined to bed for many months.

 

Sculptor Thanh has never named any of his works. After they are revealed to the public, the public name them. 

Leaving his sick bed, Thanh seemed to become a new man. Hedid not want to meet anyone, avoided every conversation about normallife. In his head, he always heard gloomy, unfathomable sounds andconversations.

Thanh felt terribly lonely in his house for many years, having endless conversations with himself.

The first place he went to when he stepped out after hisrecovery was a beer bar. He came to know many waitresses here andacquired a new outlook about their lives. He felt they were theCreator’s perfect works of art, and they enlightened his creation.Slowly, Thanh started a new, composed life.

A spark of creativity flared inside him. Since then, withhis gifted fingers and a sculptor’s refined heart, Thanh reproducedevery line and curve on a woman’s body, giving them metaphoric meaningsand figures. He adored the mundane beauty of a woman’s body.

“I make statues of women because through their figures, Iunderstand the more enigmatic facts of life. While carving the statuesof women, I realise that women are not just beautiful in form butintellectually as well,” says Thanh.

Thanh has never named any of his works of art. After theyare revealed to the public, the public name them. For instance, touristslove clicking pictures of themselves with the sculpture of a woman atthe Hon Dau seaside in Do Son Town, Hai Phong port city, but they don’tknow its creator Le Cong Thanh.

Thanh works laboriously, with a haversack worn crosswisefrom his shoulder as his constant companion. He silently works andcarves images of women.

In real life, Thanh is thoughtful and gentle with everywoman he meets. It is his way to express his gratefulness for theirbeauty. A psychological therapy ensures that his mind is in perfect andrefined condition.

 

Eternal kiss: One of Thanh’s works. 

He does not distinguish between day and night. He eatslittle, sleeps little, and works a lot. He wakes up at midnight, turnson his light, and creates and saves his ideas on a computer.

“Why do we compete with each other to set up the statues ofancestors and historical figures? How can we know their faces for sure?”Thanh asks.

“I never build statues of late famous people. I do not wantthem lamenting as I installed their bodies out in the open and left themthere in the rain, the sun, and even on cold nights,” he remarks.

After a number of upheavals and periods that smoothed hiswork, in 2008, Thanh opened an exhibition with his wife. It was quite anoccasion as the public got to see the couple’s unique works together,under the same roof.

“If I achieve a huge feat, please do not install a statue ofmine when I die. I want to return to the life on Earth once more but donot want to see my body standing foolishly forever,” Thanh smiles. 

VNS

Ngo Huong Sen

Sculptor inspired by perfect works of art

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