We're having a very special exhibit at the beginning of this month - one week only, a photography exhibit from Nghia Cao and Mimi Vo.   The exhibit will be on display from Tuesday, October 2, through Sunday, October 7.  Come support these very adventurous local artists, and also have a chance to meet them during an artist's reception, Saturday, October 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Made in Halong

Artist Statement:

"Vịnh Hạ Long" means "Bay of the Descending Dragon" which sits in  Northeastern Vietnam and is famous for its natural limestone  formations and serene waters.  Nghia was born near the  bay.  As a  child, he recalls the clear blue-green water teeming with shrimp and  other ocean life.  Now as Vietnam has undergone rapid national economic growth and Halong Bay has become a popular tourist destination, the landscape has changed.  "Made in Halong" attempts to capture the beauty of the region, as well as the interplay between the old as it struggles to exist with the new.

This show is a collaboration of photos taken by us on our most recent trip.  Because we shared one camera, as we always have, it is hard to separate which pictures were taken by whom.  Thus, as artists and as in life, we prefer to remain as one.

-Nghia Cao & Mimi Vo

Biography:

Nghia was born in Cam Pha, Vietnam near Halong.  At the age of 15 he was sent with his older brother to flee Vietnam.  Because they were from the Halong Bay area they divided into two groups to avoid suspicion and acted as guides for the rest of the escapees.  Nghia's group made it onto the specified boat but his sibling was left behind.  So, with strangers Nghia braved the waters of Halong Bay and the South China Sea.  He arrived in Hong Kong where he lived in a refugee camp for 6 years before immigrating to St. Louis, Missouri.  In this new country Nghia became a self-taught photographer.  With his adventurous nature, he has traveled extensively, photographing wherever the open road takes him.

Mimi was born in Springfield, Illinois where her family lived after immigrating from Vietnam.  She was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and subsequently went to medical school at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.  During medical school Mimi continued to pursue photography as a means to escape the world of medicine.  She took art courses as electives and opened a portrait studio during her last year.  Currently she works as an Internal Medicine physician with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital.

Nghia and Mimi fell in love 12 years ago, at which time they developed a passion for photography together.  Mimi received a Canon 35mm SLR as a gift and they spent countless hours photographing and learning. They went their separate ways when Mimi began medical shcool and after being apart for almost 10 years they fell in love all over again.

Here are a few photographs from Nghia's and Mimi's upcoming exhibit: