Making Paintings from Snail Shells

When Tet was coming, people saw a man at Hoi An rubbish dump asking for buying snail shells. Some hygiene workers were very surprised “ Why do you buy so many?”. The man smiled gently and answered “Oh, to draw paintings”. People who didn’t understand shaked their heads, Some people who knew him and sympathized with him wondered: “ This artisan artist is going to have a new passion?”

In his painting room there are no brushes, pumice lacquer, or water colours, but there are a lot of small colourful snail shells and some drafts drawn with pencils on thin frames. Ngoc Nam Lu artisan artist is not really a professional artist, and he was known by Hoi An people by elegent dead tree plastic art “which is just for fun’’ according to him. Chasing art habit hid inside a creation exploration which helped him find out a kind of new art in one day: grafting paintings by snail shells. Snail shells were distinguished basing on their sizes and colors; and became the only material. He selected snails one by one to graft paintings, using spiral, arc and also small spaces in snail bodies to create a vivid painting with a triangle direction and the natural colors of snail shells. Since discovering the special role of snails, he has become an amateur artist in his typical painting art. Natural material combined with  drawing features which do not depend on any forms, schools of thought went along with him to create a new art. In this art, the technology, or artificiality was not used to convey life, but his works themselves do this role. Snails with “river smell” which reminded an unforgetable childhood by river   attracted the souls of the spectators because these spectators had a chance to return to their natural feelings  related to their childhood.

“ Snail shells are too beautiful to throw away….” The artisan artist who got a copyright paper from Information Culture Ministry just said so for his creation and typical style of snail paintings. However, using something left, something waste, and something from the past to illustrate life is a theory. The beauty on his snail shell paintings is the beauty of the country, Hoi An people, Thap Cham My Son scence, Mot Cot pogado, the sudden inspiration moments toward mother holding a child scence, and even his lovely daughters. Especially, his love paintings stand out the sharp forms. Everyday, he sits by painting frames, selects one by one snail, grafts painting to express people and life. His room is the shape of the man who sold Che xiu ma (a kind of sweet soup) and was familiar to Hoi An people – as a question mark in the sky in the evening “ the past people”. Over there is the Cua Dai sea scence where is lively young life with the whole blue color of the sea water, sky and mountains. Another painting is about a love legend which has not finished, but opened a lot of different thoughts because of the sunshine  of the end of the sky. …

This pring, snail paintings and Mr Nam together welcomed Tet at Tet fair. The conscious snails on the paintings are going to show the silent love about what happened in the past with the enjoyment.