Bright Quang

Bright-Quang is a South Vietnamese man with a quicksilver mind, giving expression to sounds, emotions and textures. His poems bury in a tree root, during a six-year concentration camp incarceration, are lyrical and will enlighten and delight. By placing his carefully crafted poems in his shoe then secretly burying them wrapped in a blanket, Bright-Quang was able to save his work. This was done whi

le digging at hard labor under the nose of his communist oppressors. Interned because of his statements of conscience in poetry and art, Quang tells of the despair and misery in a lyric and expressive outpouring about the communists and the camp. In a series of poems covering both physical and emotional life experiences, Quang prays for harmony. In a later section Quang tells of his relocation and emotional rebirth in the United States, Redwood City, California, and his capturing freedom of thought and expression. "We need a torch," this descendant of "dragons" pleads. Balancing woe and tribulation with love his summons memories with " the sun on a river of perfume" and " love and lost harmonies". He dramatizes anger and hopelessness in a play-let that builds anguish against North Vietnam Communists tormenting villagers. In a time honored folk theme, a young virgin spy is raped and by the wicked older military strongman, young lover lost mother degraded. All this showing the effect of military ruthlessness It is difficult to express the spiritual of flowering of these writings, which burst like sparkling shooting stars lighting up the pages of the mind. The final section has photos of art works by the author. They encapsulate " Hope" as an underlying theme. They are sculpted and carved in different media; ceramic, wood, plaster, and granite, then painted, some in gold, some in brass. The sum of this work creates that hair-raising surprise of finding a rare and brilliant talent emotional insight. The sculptures focus on subjects that represent the idea of liberation. The bust of President Clinton has facial symmetry, boldly extended nose, and connected eyebrow line that intensifies the inward gaze of the sagging aging eyes. This ceramic, painted in gold, emphasizes the unique personality of Clinton. In contrast to the facial strength of the bust of President Kennedy in cement, sand and granite, and President in ceramic, is a softly modeled girl bust, in ceramic, plaster painted gold. She has a modestly downward gaze, her face framed with shiny looking hair. Her total look is gentle, youthful and hopeful. Quang's humor is evident in his sculpture of an elongated curvaceous Cat. An impish look, Cat tilts its head, more ready to purr than pounce. The sleek warm, wooden body elicits the desire for touching. The outward appearance of the controlling hands, the frog with hatchet, and rearing horse is different. They all express the underlying theme of freedom. The frog will break down obstacles, the hand has the possibility of uplifting or destroying earth, while the prancing horse shows the spirit of independence. Quang again is creating from the need to speak for justice. The sum of this work, primarily the poems, creates the hair-raising surprise of finding a rare and brilliant talent with emotional insight.