Choosing his own way of artistic creation, Ngo Van Sac has produced strange and unique pictures by burning drawings into wood, impressing the viewers. He is also a pioneering artist who initiated the genre of wood burning pictures.

Artist Ngo Van Sac with his unique pictures.

Seeing Sac, nobody would think he was a painter. He looks like a carpenter working busily with wood, hammers, chisels, saws and drills in his workshop.

He said that the idea of burning drawings into wood came to his mind when he burned  the wood-carvings that he was not satisfied with.

Watching the fire burn the unfinished pictures he saw a new way to work with wood. He had the idea that “the burning creates new things with a new life”.

Sac said that he is fascinated by the grain of the wood. He loves wood due to its natural features, so he likes to create pictures on wood.

The efficiency brought by the wood lies in the natural beauty of the grain of the wood.

Sac engraves the image into the wood, then he uses a burning technique to create a picture on the wood.

The difficulty of this type of making pictures is the calculation of the path of the fire to demonstrate the intention of the artist who uses bright or dark shades and light or bold strokes to show the mood of a portrait.

Following the principle of using fire to burn the images, Ngo Van Sac has created beautiful works of art.

The materials to make these pictures are simply wood and fire. If the fire is strong, it will singe the picture, making it unattractive.

If the fire is not controlled skillfully the idea as well as the art of the picture is not fully reflected.

Sac cannot find pieces of wood with the right size all the time, so he must whittle the wood or join pieces of wood together.

It took him a lot of time to create the work “Self-portrait”, size 200 x 120 cm. On a rectangular natural wood block he made 16 cells, on each cell he portrays a different corner of his face.

The brown of the wood mixed with the black of the burn and the natural grain of the wood create special visual effects of the portrait.

The work seems to reveal the emotional state of the artist in life while at the same time concealing a hidden corner of a man. This self-portrait won the first prize at the contest “Self Portrait – Dogma Prize” in 2012.

 It can be said that Ngo Van Sac has been successful in his journey of art to demonstrate the nuance and mood of people. Behind the light and dark shades of the pictures are the fates, memories and stories for the viewers to think of.

Wood  grain under the fire and skillful hands of the artist become lively works of art.         Art lovers are very interested in Ngo Van Sac’s wood burning pictures.

Bich Van/Van Quyen

VNP