We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christine Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful project I worked on was In 2020-2021. I participated in a cross-cultural exchange with Hanoi-based Arts Build Communities (ABC) to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. Together we created a large wall mural approximately 200 ft.

I wanted to be a part of something in Vietnam, where my parents came from and where my mother’s family still resides… Even though it is a complicated and emotional subject, I think we have to keep working together to keep our countries’ peaceful relationship, similar to how working on this project has enhanced my understanding of my heritage and brought new friendships.
Here’s some press about the project below.

Christine Nguyen, who loaned a work to Ambassador Kritenbrink’s CMR exhibition in Hanoi, participated in a cross-cultural exchange with Hanoi-based Arts Build Communities (ABC) to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam.

The conservation-focused mural, located at the American Club, was jointly designed by Nguyen and four female Vietnamese artists led by Thu Huong of ABC. Covering an area of approximately 100 square meters, the mural seeks to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment by featuring vividly painted fauna and flora. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the collaboration was done virtually, and the final design was executed in-person by Vietnamese artists and members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative.

Nguyen worked with artists from ABC, who provided a sketch of creatures present in the natural environment of Vietnam. From that sketch, Nguyen used a process she developed herself to create a photo-based painting she then returned to ABC for their continued input. Nguyen’s unique process, combined with ABC’s creative vision, resulted in a final collaboration that celebrates and pays homage to the landscape and waterscape of Vietnam.

Nguyen’s work combines fantastical fictional worlds with endemic flora and fauna. She imagined a verdant setting filled with creatures soaring through the sky, across the land, and merging with the ocean. She wanted to create something magical, inspiring, and hopeful, all the while appreciating nature. Tropical plants she had seen both in photographs and while visiting Vietnam and its limestone islands in Hạ Long Bay feature prominently in the piece.

Nguyen describes the goal of her art as “to create something positive and uplifting while thinking about the peaceful future… how not only we must protect and be kind to nature and the ocean but also to one another. We are sharing this planet together, and even though we are separated by oceans we are still a part of the same place and constantly learning about nature and the world we live in together.”

“I was excited to be invited for this project, as I am still learning about my heritage and love connecting with people and artists in Vietnam. I am looking forward to visiting Hanoi, and possibly continuing this project with workshops and meeting artists in the region,” says Nguyen of this virtual exchange. “It has been a great opportunity to talk and work with a strong and talented group of women in Vietnam.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been a maker since I was a child and got into photography when I was 12. I went to CSU Long Beach and got my BFA in photography and MFA in studio art. I’ve been an exhibiting artist locally, nationally, and internationally for more than two decades and have been doing public art as well. I work in various mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photographic process, and growing salt crystals. My work draws upon the imagery of nature, the sciences, and the cosmos but it is not limited to a conventional reading of these realms. It imagines that the depths of the ocean reach into outer space, that through an organic prism, vision can fluctuate between the micro- and macroscopic. My practice is devoted to the natural world and its curiosities. It has been my inspiration and a place that I find meditative and complex but also mysterious. It has allowed me to continuously know more about the world we live in. I’ve been drawn to 19th century Naturalists like Ernst Haeckel: biologist, philosopher, physician and artist; Anna Atkins: botanist and photographer and Robert Fludd: cosmologist, astrologer, occult philosopher who believed that every plant in the world had its own equivalent star in the firmament which I saw as every plant has a corresponding star in the cosmos, in which direct connections were made between the microcosmic earth and the macrocosmic celestial space. My goal is to create work that meditative, positive and for people to slow down from their everyday lives.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Is to share my vision but also to be able to create and continue my art practice. I am grateful to be able to do so despite how challenging it is. Thus far, I’ve met a lot of great creatives that have become good friends and inspired by their practice and growth.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’m always experimenting and trying to combine various mediums exploring the idea of the macro and microcosms connecting us to the natural world. My goal is to create work that makes people slow down and contemplate about their environment and its importance to be kind and take care of it as well as others. I’m continuously learning about the world we live in as well as myself as an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christinenguyen.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seamoonshe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EULNMDKU3hY
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2SiKNMZ0jo