Choosing painting over more lucrative careers seems to have paid off fora Hanoian artist who uses images of lotuses to create intricatecommentary on the human condition.

Pham Quoc Tuanhas tried many careers, but he finds himself drawn most to painting. Forhim, depicting lotuses on silk is a way to capture the essence of trueart.

Tuan keeps most of his paintings in anunpretentious room at his apartment in Vong Duc Street. Wooden tea traysand handmade lanterns create a sense of serenity, instilling everycorner with the aroma of a meditation room.

"Home is where the heart is. Living here, I feel like I can forget myself and give the whole me to my art," said Tuan.

Only in his early 30s, Tuan has developed a perspective on life andart. He has worked in many career fields, some of which offered fortunesthat others would find it hard to pass up. Today, however, art is hisonly motivation.

"It's easy to become a slave tomoney. When you overcome that obsession, though, you can see the valueof tranquility," said Tuan.

This man nurtures an odd love for lotuses. For the last five years, most of his paintings have featured the plant.

"Luan hoi" (Samsara), a set of four multicoloured lotuses, useslotuses to depict the life cycle. "The vivid colours and mysteriouscircles reflect the evolutionary process and natural phenomena. When Iput them under the electric light, the veins of leaves resurfaceclearly, inspiring strong compassion and emotion from viewers," Tuansaid.

His painting "Tuyet Lien" (Snow Lotus), awhite lotus painted in the middle of smooth silk, is a metaphor for the"rare feeling of freshness in the painter's heart".

The silk painting trend is a way to review the old and understand thenew. A single brush stroke on the silk surface, like a blow from aSamurai warrior, is a deceptively complex act. A painter must listen tohis hand's weight and then create a careful line.

Tuan often waxes philosophical on the differences between Eastern andWestern arts. "All art intends to create emotion in the viewer," hesaid. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion, Western artis like many kinds of science. Classical Western art tends towardsrationalism and standardisation. In order to pursue art as a profession,it is a must to learn topography and anatomy. However, modern art nowhas a new face, one that is more abstract and surrealist.

"In Eastern art, the individual character is taken seriously. Thecoloured background is light and the image of the real world absorbsinto the painter's mind. You have to penetrate deeply into these two artforms to mix them together cleverly."

The artist isa huge fan of Chinese artists like Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong. In each oftheir paintings, he feels the inner spirit of natural living beings."This mystic kind of stroke is not easy to learn like the 'ngu cung'(pentatonic music scale) of the East," he said. "I used to work inarchitecture, art and fashion, so I applied what I learned with spaceand proportion to designing clothes. I also put the image of the lotusinto each ao dai design, so that it could contain both Western andEastern style."

In 2011, Tuan co-organised the aodai show "Quoc Sac Thien Huong" (National Beauty) with the VietnamWomen's Union and the Vietnam Women's Museum, which displayed hundredsof garments. Tuan will create another ao dai show at Miss AdAsia 2013 aswell as an exhibition of hundreds of lotus silk paintings at the 28thAsian Advertising Congress, held from November 11 to 14. He will put apoem about lotuses on each painting.

While lotusesare a common theme in his current work, his life philosophy is not easyto put into a box. It seems that the artist is committed to exploringall possible avenues of creativity, wherever they might lead. "Myfavourite quote is 'The road is made by walking'. I will continueworking as an artist based on that idea," said Tuan.-VNA