‘Masks We Wear’ emphasizes military, healing after combat

UCCS military stu­dents may identify with the struggles that local soldier and upcoming art­ist, Anthony Ngo, has ex­perienced.

Ngo is a local soldier that is participating in the Military Creative Expres­sions program sponsored by Aspen Pointe, which is a local non-profit com­pany that focuses, in part, on mental and behavioral health issues.

According to his biog­raphy, Ngo is regaining a passion for the arts after three combat tours be­tween Iraq and Afghani­stan.

He was unavailable for comment and Kim Nguyen, manager of Military Creative Expres­sions said, "In the past he has refused to talk to a reporter; I don't know if he's ready yet."

However, Nguyen did outline the meaning of Ngo's exhibit and this art therapy program.

Ngo's current exhibit is in the ARTSpace Gal­lery and is titled "Masks We Wear."

He chose this title because the experiences Ngo went through al­lowed him to "see how people put on and take off the mask every day from different cultures," said Nguyen.

Ngo's work consists of several paintings and colorful mask sculptures of various designs.

The mask sculptures on display were colorful, but also very simplistic, and the cultural influenc­es weren't entirely obvi­ous.

However, Ngo's paint­ings demonstrated a high level of skill, and Nguyen said, "He…is an amazing artist; to have the innate talent that we were able to draw out because it was the right time, right place."

The piece that best ex­hibits Ngo's talent is the painting which shows a nude woman sitting in the fetal position, hug­ging herself and holding a mask depicting an an­guished expression.

Her left hand reaches around grabbing the right side of her back, giving the appearance that she may be rocking her upper body back and forth in an effort to calm herself.

This illustration dem­onstrates the unspeakable pain of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that wounded soldiers must cope with on a daily basis after returning from war.

This painting, like many of his other paintings and masks on display, did not appear to have a title.

Perhaps these pieces go unnamed because it is too difficult to put words together that adequately express the pain felt by the artist.

Ngo's biography stated that he learned "creative techniques as [a] thera­peutic means to heal and move beyond any physi­cal and invisible wounds that occurred."

According to Nguyen, the overall purpose of this program is to help "soldiers, veterans and clients of mental and be­havioral health learn cop­ing skills so they can use their imagination and the creative expression as a tool for their whole life so they can release [that which] becomes toxic to their body."

The Lowdown

What:

Masks We Wear

When:

Dec. 6, 2011 - Jan. 6,

2012

Where:

ARTSpace Gallery

Hillside Community

Center

925 S. Insitute

How much:

Free

More Info:

Kim Nguyen

492-2524