We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hung Viet Nguyen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hung Viet below.
Hung Viet, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
During 6th grade, there was a writing essay the topic was: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. My reply was to be an artist. However, I came from a large family and an environment that didn’t favor the pursuit of art. I went to Science University in Saigon, Vietnam where I studied biology. I came to the US in 1982, and from then on, the dream of becoming an artist came back. Following my dream, I worked as an illustrator and graphic artist during the daytime and a fine artist at night. In 2015, I retired from my day job as graphic artist and become full time fine artist,
Hung Viet, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1957. Despite the love of art, I had studied science instead, from 1975 through 1980. In May 1981, I was able to escape with others aboard a boat, which eventually arrived in the Philippines. I spent 10 months in refugee camps there, first at Palawan and then at Bataan. Ultimately, through a family sponsorship, I arrived in California, where I took some engineering drawing courses. While working at a day job as a technical illustrator and then a graphics artist for Boeing, I took a few art classes, but did not pursue an arts education. Instead, I learned on my own and cultivated my art practice at night. I drew inspiration from a variety of sources, from Symbolist artists like Klimt and post-impressionists like Van Gogh, to traditional Asian art forms such as Chinese scroll painting, Japanese woodblock, and ceramic art, also traditional Western art such as mosaic and stained glass. After retiring in 2015, I was able to dedicate myself fully to my art practice.
I have had solo exhibitions at Lois Lambert Gallery in Santa Monica, Matter Studio & gallery in Los Angeles, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum in Cal State Long Beach University, Norco College in Norco city, Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens in San Clemente, Gallery 825 (LAAA) in West Hollywood, LA Artcore at the Brewery Annex, and Launch LA in West Los Angeles.
My artwork has been the focus of features by art historians Meher McArthur and Betty Ann Brown and has been reviewed by critics Genie Davis and Bondo Wyszpolski, among others.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Freedom
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I’m an old-school painter. I believe in a great original artwork, it is alive and can communicate to others. NFT will put an artwork in jail and it becomes a commodity for trading.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hung4art.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hung_viet_nguyen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hung4Art/