Prayer Under the Moon

This is an abstract landscape painting of Ha Long Bay, a beautiful bay of islands in Vietnam. When painting this piece, I tried to visualize the original outline structure of the nature of Ha Long Bay itself. I reinterpreted the actual place using my own impressionistic features and colors according to the memory I had when I visited Vietnam, Ha Long Bay. I used vibrant colors to portray how the mesmerizing view affected my feelings while I was experiencing the nature, and made a contrast with the calm yellowy dusk and the moon in the back groud to depict the tranquil and meditating aura that I felt around the place.

Along with the landscape of the nature I added a figure, a women praying under the moon. She went out to the sea, guided by a sailor on a little boat. Under the full moon and on the calm sea, she prays earnestly. She is a persona of the artist myself, with the vision and aspiration of a life as a painter, praying for her dream as an artist.

Through general background of a yellow dusk, I tried to convey a mixed feeling of hopefulness and a sense of melancholia.