Calgary Journal Online

Thai Ngo will have an exhibition of her collected works at Ruberto Ostberg Gallery

Local artist Thai Ngo has spent years travelling the world and sweeping up scenes with her paintbrush.

Four years ago Ngo visited the expansive landscapes of Utah and Arizona. There, she stopped to experience the breadth of the Grand Canyon where she felt so small. After connecting to the space, she began to paint the scenes before her.

“When I am on the spot, I don’t paint right away,” Ngo said. “I sit there and I look and I feel and I want to be a part of it – of this nature – until something grows inside of me...then I start to paint.”

Ngo will display a collection of her work in a month-long exhibition at the Ruberto Ostberg Gallery with opening receptions to kick off the exhibition this Friday and Saturday.

Thai Ngo stands holding one of her recent figurative paintings, while behind her is another that she painted a decade ago.

Photo: Jennifer Friesen/Calgary Journal

She has been working on her art full-time over the last 10 years. The collection being showcased will encompass landscapes, still-life and figurative pieces. Ngo said that the exhibition will show the collection of art she’s created over her career, with the focus being on colours and movement.

This will be Ngo’s first solo show. Anna Ostberg, owner of the Ruberto Ostberg Gallery, said that focusing on your own solo show is often a difficult and nerve-racking experience. “You’re just putting yourself out there, your heart and soul.”

Yet despite the challenge, Ngo said she’s excited. “What I really wanted to do was show my progression over the years.”

Born in Vietnam, Ngo came to Calgary in the mid-‘80s to attend the Alberta College of Art and Design. Since 2001, she has travelled through North America, Europe, the Far East and Central Asia. She said that without her travels, she wouldn’t have been able to produce the work that she has.

“It makes you more confident when you do landscapes or anything, because you’ve seen so much,” Ngo said. “The way you mix colours, the way you arrange things, it’s pretty unique because you’ve actually seen what’s out there.”

Susanne Gies is a Calgary artist who has known Ngo and painted with her for approximately 15 years. Working side-by-side with her for so many years, Gies said that she has seen the growth in Ngo’s artwork.

“You’re in contact with them enough that you are seeing that progress and seeing that development in the evolution of their art,” Gies said.

According to Gies, artists often go through an evolution in their work, starting off wanting to represent what they see accurately and the eventually creating a more expressive and abstract portrayal.

“This has happened in Thai’s work,” Gies said. “It’s become expressive...what happens is you become less and less constrained by reality. You break away from the restriction and try to express what you see instead of copying what you see.”

Ngo has noted that she has seen the changes in her work from piece to piece, but her art will still “have the roots to tie it down and connect all of the pieces.”

Describing it as a circle, Ngo said that her work has morphed over her career. When she started, she had a fresh idea and a fresh style. “(Then) over the years you’ve been learning and changing. Then finally you are shedding all of what you have learned – throwing away all of the boundaries. And then you’re back at the beginning again, but with a different, fresh, more experienced appearance.”

“I’m always tormenting myself,” Ngo said, elaborated on her past work. “Why can’t I do that anymore? It’s like I’ve lost that (skill). But when you look at it carefully – it’s there. "

Whatever you have today is inherited from what you had 10 or 15 years ago. It never goes away.”

The Ruberto Ostberg Gallery is located at 2108 18th St. N.W. and the exhibition will be open until March 27th. For more information on the exhibition, or the gallery, visit the gallery's website.