There are several unique Vietnam stories that somehow failed to be out and shared in public but surely, not this story of a leaf artist residing in Ho Chi Minh.
A 32-year-old Duong Huong Nhien was gifted with a sacred Bodhi tree from India. She has used one of its leaves as a bookmark for quite some time and decided to imprint her own art in it – since then, this leaf artist has drawn several masterpieces that depict Vietnam culture.
Accordingly, she had thought of sharing a piece of her country through her arts. Indian art is accompanied by painting their gods while the Chinese have a sense of following its traditional folk trope.
Fueled by this thought, Nhien searched online about painting on bodhi tree leaves.
To produce a quality output, Nhien has to choose a substantial feature for the leaves – it needs to be large and old which she had to seek a friend’s help from the Bai Dinh Pagoda nestled in the northern Ninh Binh province.
The process starts with the leaves being soak and is left for a month to gradually remove any hint of chlorophyll. From here, the leaves are gently brushed to be cleaned.
Once done, these leaves of the bodhi tree are then dried in preparation for painting.
Nhien had to confide with her husband who is more than knowledgeable on Vietnamese art characteristics. The tandem focuses on painting folk themed art on the leaves derived from Vietnamese art pieces albeit somehow altered.
Leaf art isn’t an easy job as there are several factors that limit one’s skills. Since the canvass is a fragile piece, Nhien has to be very careful and delicate when painting – not to mention an extensive amount of patience to finish a piece.
Each piece varies from the amount of time it took for Nhien to complete them. The more intricate and detailed the drawings are, the longer it takes for her to finish one such as the “Five Tigers”. And some only took her 2-3 hours.
Prior to achieving her level of mastery right now, Nhien had to do a couple of tries. In her early stage of painting, her pieces were unclear with unwanted color smudges. However due to persevering, she learned and refined her outputs overtime.
As the time passed by, Nhien and her husband found ingenious ways to incorporate leaf art into other subjects such as gift boxes, wall decors, lampshades that illuminate the awe-striking details of the paintings from the leaves. These leaf-shaped lamps have a dimension of 17-19 cm by 25-27 cm all dependent on the leaf that it houses.
The lamp is made up of lightweight wood material and imposes a painted banyan leaf structure. These lamps are made unique and are produced with no replicas. From simple work of art to a more complex 3D paintings, the couple has invested in upgrading their pieces with notable paintings such as the Buddha, lotus and other colorful flowers.
Nhien’s artworks and crafts have then been renowned by handicraft artists, interior decorators and art professionals. Most of her works are adorned and bought by young Vietnamese within and outside the country.
