Figurative | Trung Cao Art

Portrait and Figurative

Marillyn, a Portrait of Vibrancy (18x34in, oil)

Rebirth (24x30in, oil)

The Last reminisce of her sinewed hand, transformed to the claw of the carrying spirit. It’s a rebirth with weary steps, disassociating from the former, and awakening to the new. A new life the travelled soul shall come, and the memories of the carnage disassembled, fading to the abstraction. The soul will take flight.

Be a Sunflower (30x40in, oil)

Sunflowers ignite a fire to seek light and grow, even when darkness looms, death surrounds. To be like the sunflower is to embody the eagerness in seizing the sun and make the soul vibrate. Turn towards the light, be like a sunflower and bloom with warmth and new height of resilience in your heart.

Germination (30x40in, oil)

Suspended in water, nourished by green, pulled by the gravity of darkness, the seeds of life began to germinate. With a bit of light, a touch of air, and clarity of the eyes, the spirit rises through, offering a new beginning.

The Letter (24x30in, oil on wood)

Surrounded by the cold sea, gloomy clouds looming from a distance, stand a defining moment of a letter that can be unsettling. It can be a history of love in the making, that never can be exiled from heart and mind. These are the unsettling moments of life. Will our heart dance, or will it burn to ash? Yet it is just ink on paper.

Aesthetic Harmony(36x 36in, oil)

The golden ratio encompasses aspects of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and the topology of space-time. The aesthetically pleasing appearance of this law translate our perceptions of the natural world into art, music, and structures. The Fibonacci spiral of the golden ratio is the configuration of least energy path of movement in nature. This energy flow reinforces the individual purpose in life and spirals towards others and the surroundings. As an artist, I’m inspired by beauty of our natural surroundings in the form of lines, shapes, and the interplay to create harmonious flow and unity. This painting explores the aesthetic harmony of the golden ratio and the Fibonacci spiral and the interplay with the human subject. When energy flows well, happiest, passion, and beauty are realized.

Inspiration Flow (20x 20in, oil)

A glow illuminates the space. The mind and spirit take a form of energy that transcend the mundaneness. Inspiration illuminates. There’s a thrilling feeling of elevation, a burst of energy, an awareness of greater possibilities. It takes form of creative action rather than mere appreciation. Something beautiful and productive. There is new perception, some holistic understanding, along with the feeling that one is capable of more. Time alters its pace. The senses are amplified. Some might say it is something mysterious, uncontrollable bursting forth deep in the unconscious, a new light. The Greeks said it was the Muses. Inspiration is a gift that passes from one individual to another, one that to be trusted, internalized, and radiated towards others. A glow illuminates the space. The mind and spirit take a form of energy that transcend the mundaneness. Inspiration illuminates. There’s a thrilling feeling of elevation, a burst of energy, an awareness of greater possibilities. It takes form of creative action rather than mere appreciation. Something beautiful and productive. There is new perception, some holistic understanding, along with the feeling that one is capable of more. Time alters its pace. The senses are amplified. Some might say it is something mysterious, uncontrollable bursting forth deep in the unconscious, a new light. The Greeks said it was the Muses. Inspiration is a gift that passes from one individual to another, one that to be trusted, internalized, and radiated towards others.

Follow Hope (30x 40in, oil)

Hope takes many forms, an open path to a different place, a different direction, or transcendence to a new state of mind. It is as mysterious and elusive as it is clear and plentiful. It is a feeling we must grow to cultivate. It is the window of opportunity or new light for reassurance that the possibilities are endless. Hope is the animating force of life that keeps its breath and refuses stagnation. See Hope moves. See Hope’s horizon and her path forward. Follow Hope.

Masquerade (24x30in, oil)

Billions (30x 40in, oil)

He is worshipped by billions. Yet it’s a face no one knows exactly. This monochromatic portrait of Jesus Christ explores a portrait of the most recognizable face known to man, and its effect on the viewers through the lens of history, academic, emotion, and spirituality.

A Portrait of Vibrancy (18x24in, oil)

Portraiture is a very old art dated back to ancient Egypt. They have been used to show the power, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, or other qualities of the sitter. In my portraiture, I strive to capture a story, an emotion, a message, or a sense of aesthetic harmony. Painted in oils on a wood panel, Portrait of Vibrancy captures the tangible energy of the sitter through movement of forms and colors, with a composition that revolves around edges and details. The vibrate color and brush work dance, matching the confidence, energy, and spiritual awareness of the sitter. To capture an inviting and energetic mood, I created a soft-edge surrounding, guiding the viewer to lock into the serene tone and luminosity of the face with clarity and focus. Yet, beyond her pride, confidence, and classic beauty, the viewers go on a journey of bouncing blues and reds.

The Essential Conversations (20x20in, oil)

Between the breakdown of society and ignorance of the problems we face, resides a space call conversation, where truths are exchanged. It’s not a space for misidentification, exaggeration, attention grabbing, and simplification. Only through honest and in-depth identification of the problems can problems be solved. We are equipped with the knowledge, the resources, and the ability to reason, and the mindfulness to hold back judging quickly or follow the trends, the mass, and our genetic tendency for tribalism. It’s essential that the lines of communications for intellectual dialogues are open, democratic, and free of societal fear and condemnation. Only through successful open conversations can society transcend to a unifying understanding of the problems we face and the solutions we crave. It is through attention to evidences, confronting our bias and ego, and setting aside our politics and religious beliefs, that ideas and reasons can flourish to bring us to a better place for humanity.

Portrait of Coleman Hughes: writer, columnist, musician, and the host of the podcast Conversations with Coleman.

Cocoon (24x 30in, oil)

She creates a world of armor, a cocoon of comfort and safety. Withdrawing from harshness, putting up walls around the tender heart and exhausted mind. Without facing reality, finding the voice and reconciling to who she is and wishes to be, she is withdrawn into a shelter of isolation from the world. The toughness of the armor is the barrier of problems. She is confined, lives and breathes on for the purpose of controlling outcomes. The degree of her armor is proportionate to the need for protection from her sensitive heart. Freedom from the armor is proportional to the beauty she can give to the world. There's a light of hope that glows at her, an invitation to transform the state of consciousness from one dimension to another, undergoing a deep experience that leads to a whole new capacity and perception. The butterfly is a life force, a new possibility past the feelings of despair and mental entrapment, and triggers new ideas, a new hope. Her face glows, exposing the beauty of her soul that is ready to fly. Wrapped in an armor of cocoon, she soon emerges in a new form, undefeated, free, and unleashing the inner self taking in the beauty of the world, and breathing out the beauty of her soul.

Awakening (16x20in, oil)

I"m Boundless (18x 24in, oil)

Throughout history portraiture has been used as a record of a person displaying the qualities of beauty, wealth, or personality of the sitter. As an artist, portraiture is my tool to transcend the individual identity and to reach into the realm of psychological characteristics. It’s a portrait of recognizable traits above recognizable individuals, relatable and customized to the interpretation of the viewers. In I’m Boundless, those traits are that of confidence and unlimited possibilities. The timeless woman, with focus and certainty, radiating an aura of grace and beauty, displays her power of control.

Psyche, Resolute (36x48in, oil)

In Greek Mythology, Psyche overcomes the forth task placed upon her by jealous Aphrodite in order to regain the love of Cupid. She must obtain a beauty ointment from Persephone, queen of the underworld. Psyche is well aware that no mortal ever returns from such a journey. In despair, she believes that the only route is to kill herself. She has made attempts before after losing the love of Cupid. But there is another path, one that tests her focus and devotion to the cause. Three times in the underworld she must harden her heart to pity and reject the pleas for help from creatures of the underworld. She strengthens her soul and maintains her focus, and loses all earthy attachments and overcomes the fear of death. She returns to the living with a rejuvenating spirit, a renewed soul, and feeling resolute. At times, to push past our own “underworld” we need to maintain our focus in healing, achieving, and transcending to a state of strength.

Passion of an Artist (30x 40in, oil)

The artist carries her secret, hidden in her work, revealed only through her eyes for those who can part the disguise. She mixes with her warm colors of merging ardor. The view imprints a blushed passion on her in hues she welcomes, and she indulges in the moment of continuous glaze that stirs passion in her heart. Her skillful hand executes the vision that passes from her eyes, interprets in her mind, and softly engraves in her heart. The story she wants to tell is carefully constructed in colors on the canvas, but in her heart, it’s a story of a secretive love.

Heroine (24x36in, oil)

The Colors of Penelope (16x 20in, oil)

Penelope is a remarkable and noteworthy character from Greek mythology. She provides a rare example of a strong mortal woman in Greek literature. The Odyssey by Homer is a narrative of Odysseus’ decades-long quest to return home to Ithaca. Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus still has not returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. At home, a large mob of 108 suitors overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land and courted his wife Penelope. In the Odyssey Penelope is portrayed as a devoted wife, weeps and waits for Odysseus. However, she is a complicated woman with a twisted sense of destiny, cleverly misguided the suitors leading with promises but choosing no one. To spare herself from choosing one of the suitors, she insisted that they should wait until the moment she has woven the shroud for Laertes, the father of Odysseus. Each night she unraveled a piece which she had woven within that day.

The conception of this painting started with the theme of love, and how when Penelope can’t fight the physical battle of invaders of her home, she still manages to keep herself, her son, and the kingdom safe, while still holding out hope that her husband will eventually return. The control of color in this painting is used to convey many aspects of hope, love, and deception. Her face is an image of despair, thoughtfulness, wisdom, and intelligence amidst all the chaos of the suitors taking over her kingdom. The black and white represent her coldness towards the suitors, holding out her true “color” while she stays confined to her sadness and depression. In front of her is the light of hope, and behind her is the gloom of the situation as symbolized by the background. While Odysseus sinks deeper and deeper into the inner world of his fantasy, she remains his anchor, that dash of “color” as a beacon for that safe harbor he will reach home one day. Penelope is intimately connected with the cycles of darkness and light, despair and hope, shades of greys and colors. She wears a color headband, a beacon for her husband’s return, a sign of commitment, a promise that won’t die. Her undergarment is red, a passion for Odysseus, while the tunic, the outer garment, is partially color contaminated by the suitors she wishes to shed.

The Fall of Arachne (36x60in , oil)

Elements gathered around her coalescing into appendages, making eight prior to the transformation to the arachne she is to become. She falls into a dream state at peace in the bed of dark water liberated from the awareness of the painful metamorphosis, a gift granted out of pity. Her cheeks and body, the last sign of a flesh pink, grew pale. Soon enough, she will forever live her life spinning and weaving, a grotesque reflection of her former beauty as one of the most proud and masterful weaver of Greece, only to cross path and insulted the goddess Athena in a weaving art contest. Transforming into the first spider by Athena, Arachne will be cursed to live her passion doing what she does best without the benefit of her former beauty.

Resilient and Free (18x40in, oil)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Freedom is the most precious possession. The sanctity of human values, freedom and security must be preserved and protected under an umbrella of moral duty and a global order. No one, let alone, one man, should have the absolute decision on the faith of millions and determine their nationality, security, and right of existence. It is men's moral duty to unite and face the fatigues of the fight to be free from tyranny and the decimation of life. There are times that try our souls, and it is in these moments that set our potential as human beings. Unity is the strength. Determination is the weapon. Millions of years of the evolving spirit to be free will not be changed in a short span of time by a small speck of one stained man. The united force of moral principles shall triumph over the conquering force of killing soldiers. Live resiliently and be free.

Pandora's Legacy (24x 36in, oil)

Pandora received a jar as a wedding gift from Zeus with the intention of punishing man, a retaliation for the gift of fire mankind received from the Titan, Prometheus. Pandora was instructed to never open the jar, but the efforts to tame her curiosity failed and she opened it releasing pain and suffering. However, she closed the jar with hope for humanity still remains inside. The legacy of Pandora’s jar is filled with hope and vitality. A girl, guided by dreams and determination, is about to embark on a journey of discovery in her world of uncertainty and chaos.

Nike Comforting Defeat (30x40in, oil)

Nike is the goddess of victory, in war and in competition. In her state of awakening, she comforts the defeated: “To the victor go the spoils.”

Pegasus and Aurora (48x60in, oil)

Joan of Arc, The Immortal Spirit (24x36in, oil) (24x 36in oil on wood)

Joan of Arc is arguably the most famous and celebrated woman in West European history. She led the French army to victory over the English during the Hundred Years' War. Her world was one of conflict, tragedy and turmoil. Known as Saint Joan of Arc and the Maid of Orleans, the young maiden reaches a level of legendary status today that truly cannot be depicted in a single piece of art. “Joan of Arc, the immortal Spirit” is a portrait that embodies the divine visions and the holy voices in the form of chaotic colors of darkness, heaven, and blood descending upon her short life. Joan’s holy calling and relentless determination merge her with the cross. The painting fragments Joan as a soldier of a physical being with flesh and blood; the collective of self-confidence, innocence, emotion, and beauty; and the abstraction of a saint, a spiritual being, and a higher power. With constant and palpable company of divinity, she achieved extraordinary things in the form of feminine strength and authority that was lacking in medieval women. She took a moral path of ignoring her social rank and her gender that was ahead of her time. Today, she serves as a potent paragon of the human subject at its most truthful and radical embodiment, visible manifestations of our aspirations as well as our limitations, and as the center of endless stories that transcend her spirit to immortality.