An Interview With Jérôme Tham Vo My

Jérôme Tham Vo My’s colourful artworks blur the boundaries between the visible and invisible. They transport the viewer into a sensitive chromatic universe, where colour expresses genuine freedom and movement. He intersects in his series of numerical images, geometric shapes such as circles, lines, typefaces, and numbers, creating vivid luminous effects. Minimal artists such as Frank Stella or kinetic art are relevant visual references. Tham Vo My’s artworks are autonomous pieces but they acquire value if conceived as a whole, like a hyper-saturated chromatic puzzle.

Can you tell us a little bit about you?

Hello, my name is Jérôme Tham Vo My, and I was born in Paris in 1967. I've been drawing since I was a child and have never stopped ever since. I studied painting, applied arts, typography, graphic design and visual communication at the Estienne Art School in Paris. I've had a very long career as a creative director and graphic designer, which has had a strong influence on my artistic work. The attention to detail, the precision, the constant preoccupation with creating and evolving and the fact of producing work in series, each time with a precise concept and an overall vision, are elements that I have acquired over time thanks to this creative work. One of my characteristics is that I am an eternal optimist. For me, optimism is essential for making art, and the fact of making art pushes me to be always optimistic.

What is your artistic process and how has it evolved since you began painting?

As a multi-faceted artist, I use different mediums. Most of the time I do series, but at the moment I'm doing abstract and graphic works in which colour is the vector, the main element. Through this work on form and colour, I try to blur the boundaries between the visible and the invisible, the aim being for colour to be totally free and in movement. I don't try to express precise ideas or provoke emotions; I focus on the relationship between form and colour. My work is research based on the line, the circle and colour. With digital technology, a line or a shape is repeated, coloured, enlarged and sometimes contradicted. The colour-form then becomes the amplification of itself and enters a system that goes beyond it and conscribes it within a set of tensions and contradictions. Each canvas is covered with a matt gel that is streaked, and these streaks and the gel give the colours an extra bond that unites them. My work is constantly evolving, I had a period when the shapes were relatively simple, the colours were flatter, then my work became more complex, the gradations became more prominent, the shapes and lines began to disappear, the colours became more and more mixed. Today I'm going back to something simpler, less complex, but tomorrow I don't yet know how it's all going to evolve.

What is the importance of colour in your work and how do you approach your palette when starting a new painting?

Colour has always been an essential element. It's something I have experimented with very early on, mixing gouache, inks, acrylics, on paper, in notebooks, on canvas, then more recently, using digital, I realised that the possibilities of mixing were multiplied, adding, subtracting, superimposing, inlaying... I finally discovered that these mixtures and the colour intensity of digital gave a real presence and unprecedented power to my work. The meeting of colours and shapes can tell infinite stories, but it's up to the viewer to tell themselves these stories and interpret what they see as they wish - it's their vision, not mine. Colour is fundamental in my work, and in fact the title of each painting highlights the name of the 3 predominant colours in each canvas, these names are quite funny, "Goose Poo": a greenish yellow, "Crimson": a deep red tending towards purple, "Bishop": the more or less intense purple of the traditional bishop's robe. I never start a painting alone, but 3 paintings at the same time, I spend time trying to associate different colours and when these associations create a visual click in my mind, I use this association of colour on these 3 paintings. From series of 3 paintings to series of 3 paintings, I try to surprise myself so that I never apply the same colour combinations.

What does 'Abstraction' mean to you?

For me, abstraction is a process. Depending on each series, the abstraction I develop is different and the meaning of my work changes. There's no story with a beginning, middle and end; no narrative. I have an idea in my head, an intention, I develop it, I define a concept and I apply it to a series, each time with the idea of awakening in everyone a reflection on themselves, knowing, as I said above, that the viewer's vision and interpretation is theirs, not mine.

Is there one piece or project you are especially proud of?

I'm always very proud of the last series I produced and less proud of the one before that!

Your earliest memory of art?

I've been drawing since I was a child, and at the age of six, I decided that I wanted to draw for a living. To immerse myself in this world, my mum often took me to visit Paris museums. The Ramses II exhibition in 1976 at the Grand Palais in Paris left an indelible imprint on my memory, with its images of sarcophagi, sculptures, hieroglyphics, jewellery and sketches. It may not have been my first memory of art, but it was certainly the one that had the greatest impact on my childhood. Seeing such ancient works of art survive the passage of time had a profound effect on me. This idea that art can leave a trace of an individual or an era undoubtedly sowed something in me.

Who or what is your biggest artistic inspiration?

I'm an eternal optimist. For me, optimism is essential for making art, and making art pushes me to be always optimistic. Even if I don't try through my painting to express specific ideas, I try to make my work awaken in everyone a reflection on themselves. In these colourful series, I try to convey this optimism. To make art, you have to work hard, believe in yourself, be motivated, be precise, very precise, never give up and be convinced that anything is possible. In fact, I'm talking about Art here, but I think it applies to a huge number of subjects. Art helps me to put life in general into perspective, it allows me to ask myself all sorts of questions, it allows me to wonder about what is futile and what is not. This way of looking at things means that I'm always looking for the best in people - there's something good in everyone, so whenever I can, I try to help them, and helping them means helping myself to understand the world better. I believe that, ultimately, my inspiration comes from my understanding of the world or my attempts to understand it.

Are there any particular artists that you are currently enjoying?

Both the work of Franck Stella and Gerhard Richter have greatly inspired me to devote myself to the medium of painting. Their works have no narrative charge and offer only a visual experience, and that's what interests me in their work. I also like very well-known artists who don't inspire me directly but whose approach or work I appreciate, artists like Olafur Eliasson, Marina Abramović, Katharina Grosse or Jason Martin and lesser-known artists like Nir Hod or Nathan Hylden.

What is your favourite book or film and why?

When I think of colour and all the associations of colour, I think of the film "Ran" directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1985. It's one of my favourite films. "Ran" highlights the importance of colour in the visual representation of chaos. The title itself means "chaos" in Japanese. The colours of the costumes of the different clans serve to distinguish the characters and reinforce the tensions between them. Red symbolises destruction and bloodshed, while green is associated with nature and life, creating a striking contrast with the red of violence. Blue represents the sky and the melancholy that permeates the film, while white is used for purity and innocence, creating a contrast with the violence. The colours evolve as the plot progresses, reflecting the changes in the characters. Finally, the meticulous use of colour reinforces the themes of betrayal, madness, revenge and desolation that run through the story, contributing to the visual and emotional impact of this remarkable film.

Are you working on any projects you are particularly excited about?

Yes, at the moment I'm working on a new series called "Laque, Claque, Laque". It's in its early days, but it's very exciting indeed. This series is inspired by the ancient lacquer techniques used by Vietnamese, Burmese, Chinese and Japanese artists. I apply many layers that I superimpose to symbolise the complexity of our lives, made up of accumulated stories, encounters and emotions. I talk about the importance of selective memory, where forgetting is necessary for healing, and about certain signs that can revive happy memories and influence an extraordinary future. Nostalgia is not part of my approach; I focus essentially on the future. I explore the fusion between past and future, tradition and innovation, and the transmission of the elders to future generations. I also deal with the evolution of writing over the millennia and how signs and languages have changed. This series attempts to transform memories into a spark for the future, highlighting how our past shapes our history and our destiny.

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