“East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet, goes an old saying that’s become outmoded in our ever-shrinking world. In fact, East does meet West with elegance and style in the work of Binh Pho, a Vietnamese-born woodcarver and multimedia artist whose tumultuous life story is inextricably wound into his multifaceted creations.” Daniella Walsh
OCRegister.com
“Binh Pho has lived a fascination life: A miraculous escape from a communist prison, a tumultuous love story and a table saw. These elements and several others would make exciting and dramatic chapters in a book; however, the Vietnamese artist tells his story in wood.” Phillip Zonkel
PressTelegram.com
“If River of Destiny: The Life and Work of Binh Pho, guest-curated by Kevin Wallace for the Long Beach Museum of Art, doesn’t instill the same sense of awe as pieces pinched from a Vatican, a Kremlin, or a Met, then nothing will.” James Scarborough
perhapsperhapsperhaps.typepad.com
The facts of an artist’s life often serve to inform the creative process, lending depth and richly layered complexity to a work of art. The thoughtful exploration of the circumstances of the artist’s life can, in turn, provide fuller access to an artwork’s more elusive depths and offer insight into its most essential truths. The extraordinary life of the contemporary sculptor Binh Pho is inextricably interwoven into the fabric of his work.
Excerpt from River of Destiny, Life & Work of Binh Pho Harold Nelson Independent Curator, Former Director Long Beach Museum of Art
“For Binh Pho, the struggles of the past have led to a pursuit of beauty, as he sees the eternal and unchanging in each experience. The view of life is presented in a distinctly original vision, fusing traditional Asian iconography with contemporary art in an ancient medium. His life stories are told using symbols; bamboo, dragonflies, lotus and kimono, with respect to his craft and the techniques that have been shared with him. The character of the tree, and by extension nature itself, is there as well, blended with the artist’s voice as he continues to explore and reflect the Tao of life and art.” Kevin Wallace
Craft Arts International
“Pho uses airbrush technique to paint and etch distinctly Oriental motifs on his smooth wooden objects. Part of the attraction of working with wood is the poetic similarity he sees between trees and human beings. As for Pho, through his distinctive visions and advance techniques, the sophisticated art of wooden vessel can be achieved.” Stephen Henkin
Art Editor, World & I Magazine
Shadow of The Turning joins the long tradition of writer, artist, designer collaborations with distinctive imaginative flair, at once contemporary in its issues and timeless in its examination of the nature of making art while living a life. Binh Pho serves up the perfect evocative world of form and color for this tale. Paul W. Richelson
Chief Curator, Mobile Museum of Art
A page turning ethereal adventure where art, love, rock n’ roll and the power of dreams unite to save the world and reveal that we are all truly connected. Maryann Cord
Vice-President, Cord International Media Group
Shadow of The Turning celebrates the natural and unconditioned state of childhood, where imagination and wonder present limitless possibilities, including the potential to inspire adults to pursue their dreams. Seda Sevada
Children's Art educator
Shadow of The Turning is a narrative of love and death visualized by Kevin Wallace and Binh Pho’s marvelous imagination and realized in Binh’s illustrative work. Binh Pho has created engaging and sumptuous objects evoking the spiritual and physical realms portrayed in this story. Charlotte V. Wainwright, Phd.
hon AIA, founding director of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, nCSU, Raleigh, NC
United by dreams and shared visions, Binh Pho and Kevin Wallace have collaborated once again with a publication to lift the imagination of the reader and make it soar. Shadow of The Turning is an epic journey that intuitively matches Binh’s layered iconographic and colorful works. The book’s combination of text and image will stretch the imagination with compelling stories and magnificent works that are not to be missed! Jonathan Leo Fairbanks
Director, Fuller Craft Museum Katharine Lane Weems
Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, emeritus
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, honorary Fellow of the American Crafts Council
