Beautiful plants and flowers in nature are often taken as icons such as the Bodhi tree symbolizing enlightenment, the lotus symbolizing nobility. As for the water taro, which is not favored by nature for an attractive beauty, its nature is taken to imply human behavior which is not good – ‘water spills on the taro leaves’ – implying teachings and advice can have no effect.
For some reason, Ngọc Thọ created the same difficult subject on three different paintings. Not only that, they all have large scale, from one meter to nearly two meters, beautifully and elaborately shaped. Is it because he loves this plant and recognizes its beauty and value in life?
