Constant/Change Artist Highlight: Kenny Nguyen

“I think (art) is such a beautiful way to communicate with people.”

Kenny Nguyen creates striking mixed media works that explore ideas of cultural identity, immigration, and displacement. In his words, Nguyen's work is made to "not simply to celebrate my culture but to point out the experiences of being different, isolation and lost in an unfamiliar environment." Born and raised in South Vietnam, Nguyen and his family moved to the United States in 2010. Nguyen's work is influenced by both his Vietnamese culture and the experience of immigrating to America; this can be seen prominently in his work with silk. His silk pieces

Silk painting is a common practice in Vietnamese culture; Nguyen draws on his home culture for inspiration but uses silk in his art in a much different way. Silk is an elegant and translucent fabric but Nguyen's work features silk that is often torn apart, stretched, beaten, and covered in paint. His treatment and arrangement of the silk creates bold, captivating, jarring pieces that encourage introspection, and serves as a beautiful illustration of the clashing of cultures that Nguyen has experienced.

 Chris Miller, GreenHill Curatorial Intern

This post is part of our Constant/Change Artist Highlight Series. Make sure to check back every Thursday to learn more about all eight artists in the show! 

Image: Kenny Nguyen, Silk Piece No. 15, 2018, hand cut silk, acrylic, canvas, pins, 95x125 inches