Using her keen observation and sensitive art intuition, Minh Phương creates a colorful realm through her brushstrokes, with dynamic human figures, animals, florals, fruits, and familiar street antics. Using striking visuals as trusty companions, she expresses a hearty affection for mankind and life itself, as well as local culture and self-compassion.

Living beautifully, dorkily

Minh Phương, best known by her social media handle Phuongsongdep, is a multimedia illustration artist from Hải Phòng but based in Saigon. Her art is distinctively colorful, and imbued with a cheekiness evident of Phương’s openness to her emotions and desire to “live beautifully.” Besides personal projects, brand collaborations and art fairs, Phương’s oeuvre also includes cover arts for popular musicians.

Artworks from Phương’s coaster collaboration with Tired City.

When asked about the meaning behind her quirky internet personality Phuongsongdep — which translates to “Phương lives beautifully” — she laughs: “Well back then I thought it was whimsical and impressive so I kept it, but now there’s a bit of pressure, because you can’t always live beautifully.” She nonetheless decided to stick with it because “I want to live beautifully, kindly, lovingly, and especially I want to live with beauty.”

Minh Phương and her artwork.

Phương often depicts her subjects with rounded edges, like cherubic girls, plump cats, or even plushy flowers. Her fantasy world seems to be in constant flux: the foliage sways in the wind, the water swirls, while dewdrops bounces. There, little school children dance with the fruit vendor, while sun-shielded commuters topple after stray dogs do drive-bys. Phương tends to anthropomorphize her subjects, giving lively expressions to fruits and vegetables, which can blush, smirk, pout, or wink. She is steadily building up a whimsical world using a sweet palette, creating a charming sense of dorkiness.

Phương’s artistic world is filled with colors and plumpness.

Beside portraying the modern society, Phương is also lending that characteristic sense of whimsy into time-honored cultural icons. When she was working on the “Manifest Money” collection, beside well-known prosperity deities like Thần Tài, Thổ Địa, Phương included the images of lesser-known mythological figures like Thiềm Thừ, a three-legged frog symbolizing stability; and Tỳ Hưu, a kirin-like creature with no anus, so it can only absorb fortune without letting it out. All four mythological characters become softened and childlike in Phương’s artistic interpretations.

Manifest Money.

“Dorkiness is also a form of coolness”

This declaration is not something that came natural to Phương. Coolness is an attribute often associated with edginess and aloofness. As someone fond of sweet palettes, she couldn’t identify with the quality, but as she gradually became more aware of her own personal style, that definition shifted: “Perhaps the patriarchy led me to believe that cuteness is not cute, but I really think that how bubblegum pink I am could be a form of coolness too.”

Phương also experienced periods when doubts made her reluctant, and a tendency to overthink overwhelmed her rest. So she drew, as way to communicate with her inner self and a form of meditation. The mind is a garden for different varieties of flowers. Stressful flowers are sharp and monotonous, but flowers of contentment are fluffy and vivid. When the garden started taking shape, she felt at peace lying there to observe and understand it.

Phương’s garden of the mind.

Loving the self, the people, and sharing that love

Having been through bouts of self-doubts, Phương wants her art to become a rest stop for the mind, welcoming kindred friends. It is often said that the arts have the power to connect, and artworks can help not only their creators but the audience members. Case in point, Phương’s pieces were once been used in an art therapy project, spreading the joy of creating art to the public.

“Friendly Reminder” is a collection of postcards she created with the initial purpose to remind herself of her self-worth, but it has touched many other like-minded souls. According to Phương, a number of buyers use them to decorate their rooms as little encouragement, while others use them as gifts. Every time somebody writes her a message recounting how they felt consoled by the artworks during melancholic times, she loves what she’s doing a bit more: “The artwork is more meaningful if it can reach more people instead of existing alone.”

Friendly Reminder, a collection of postcards.

Nurturing moments of stillness

To an artist, a eureka moment can come quite spontaneously, and forcing something out can worsen the artist’s block. Even though Phương agrees that creativity can’t be rushed, she also doesn’t encourage procrastinating a piece for too long, as it can extinguish the creative fire. She observes that some young artists don’t feel comfortable with showcasing their work. Even though they have artworks, they’re still waiting for a higher level of perfection. To Phương, this is a vicious circle because our standards and skills are continuously improving. The longer one waits, the longer the art stays shelved, and the growth is not acknowledged. Therefore, Phương encourages anyone who does art, or any trade, to set a timeline for their work, publish it, close the page, and embark on the next endeavor. The next one is almost always gonna be better.

To get to the deadline in a timely manner, Phương often tries to create an environment conducive to idea formation. She goes on walks, observes, and records images that appear in her mind. Perhaps that’s merely to satisfy her artistic whim and might not be rigorous enough, but it is still a form of practice.

Phương used to treat each artwork as a brainchild, always striving to push it to perfection. Right now, however, she allows them to live their own life out there, while she focuses on herself. They exist as milestones in an artist’s journey, but can’t expand anymore. The artist, however, is an ever-changing entity, capable of producing those milestones. “I need to know how to accept that my ability is always reaching forward to feel comfortable creating,” she shares.

Phuongsongdep’s artworks can be found at art stores like Tired City and OHQUAO. Visit her Instagram @minhphuong.work for to view more.