Dreamtime: Duy Huynh

Duy Huynh (pronounced YEE WEN)

[Note: for many of you, this is just an expanded version of a blog I posted several months ago on imeem, but which for some reason never made it here. I'm just trying to save it from the black hole that is forming in the vicinity of that website... ]

From duy huyhn

"Her Own Little World"

According to his website, www.duyhuynh.com, his "interest in art began shortly after his arrival in the states in the early eighties. With difficulties adapting to new surroundings and language, Duy took refuge in the art of comics, cartoons, and graffiti. His first art commission came in the third grade. A fellow classmate hired Duy to draw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Payment came in the form of two dollars and chocolate milk for the week. More importantly, he learned it was possible to make a connection through the use of a visual language. This simple experience serves as a reminder for him even today to always enjoy and maintain his childhood love."

From duy huyhn

"Invitation to optimism"

Those two aspects of his personal history, the upheaval of changing country and culture, and the discovery of art as not only another form of language but also a way out of isolation, are ever-present in his works.
They often explore themes of the rootless, or the traveler, someone who travels alone,must create his own world, and maybe carries it on his back:

From duy huyhn

"Well-grounded Drifter"

But also, they are often accompanied by delicate, transcendent travelers--perhaps symbolic of their own spirits, or maybe guides:

From duy huyhn

"Rebirth"

From duy huyhn

"Dreams of Flight"

And also, there is the solitary, slightly unhinged (magical, levitating) figure who creates different aspects of the world or herself through the use of the magic wand (or paint brush):

From duy huyhn

"Moonlight Muse"


The scenarios are dream-like, and the characters are ethereal, and the journey becomes mythic...

From duy huyhn

"Dreamtime Traveler"

He has an entire gallery of works called "Dream Chasers," and often depicts such characters, whether they be geared for such a task with musical instruments or circus implements. All of them, really, are Dream Chasers, looking for home, each other, or some other magic. Enjoy!