Celestial Sculpture

The early years for Tuan were carefree, surrounded by family and friends and insolated from the war that raged in the countryside. Life was good, up until the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975. Overnight, Tuan’s life was turned upside-down; oppression gripped the country and freedom and privilege became relics of the past. Tuan’s father, a well known and respected architect, was taken away to be “re-educated”, the family compound was divided up and life became harsh and restrictive. The whole of South Vietnam changed from a country fighting to retain its freedom to one unified under the oppression of Communist rule. In a way, the return of Tuan’s father from the re-education camp began shaping Tuan into the man we know today. Having refused to work for the Communists, Tuan’s father turned to his love of sculpting to help maintain his sanity and at his side was his son Tuan. Day after day they sculpted together, the mentor and his student, and even though they did not always agree on style and composition, Tuan began to learn the skills that were to lead him to his destiny. The oppression of the Communist régime created an overwhelming desire within the young Tuan to regain his freedom, eventually leading him to a near-fatal escape attempt. This failed attempt to escape the grip of the Communists landed him in a force labor camp that would have broken a lesser man, but instead, Tuan created opportunity by using the red clay from the floor of his cell to sculpt the likenesses of fellow prisoners. These prison sculptures helped to make prison life more bearable for the young artist. After six long months in the prison camp and eighteen more months of hard labor, Tuan’s family was able to arrange for his release. With the support of his family, especially his father with whom he continued to sculpt, Tuan grew stronger and more confident with each passing day until he decided to put it all on the line for freedom once again. This time, after two arduous months struggling through the jungles of Southeast Asia, facing danger at every turn, he succeeded in escaping through Cambodia to Thailand. He was assigned to a refugee camp in Thailand for a year before being transferred to the Philippines where he learned English and created sculptures to honor escapees before gaining sponsorship to the United States where he finally found true freedom in 1988.