CHI NGUYEN
Artist Statement
Moving from Vietnam to America at the age of thirteen, my
artworks are centered on the search for identity as a female and as an
immigrant. In painting women of various ethnicities and age groups, I find a
way to look at myself. Their portraits become mine, as I search for a common
ground between all women by exploring our skin tones, our hair, and our body
types.
I believe that the best way to get to know people is to draw
them or to paint them in a short amount of time. For me, painting portraits
speaks a certain volume; it creates a natural closeness, or relationship,
between two people – the artist and the subject. I look closely at the person
in front of me – not to paint accurately how they look like, but how they make
me feel. I want to capture that urgency and excitement in getting to know
someone by using big and organic brushstroke. Each shape, each color, and each
line stand for her past, my present, and our future.
In doing this series, I keep a narration in my head. Every
stroke and every color correspond to a phrase, a line, syntax, or a climax in
the story. It is an endless narration that pulls the lives of these four women
together – regardless of their consciousness to its existence. In painting them
– abstract or otherwise, I see myself and I see the common denominator that
ties us all together. Regardless of how small the bond is, our lives are
connected at one singular point – through the narration of these paintings.
I often write in the background of each painting a short,
fictional story – a rant, perhaps – written about the woman sitting or standing
in front of me. Throughout the whole process, it is the fictional character
that I paint, even though the facial expression and the mood are based on the
model herself. Much of the text is then covered with paint, leaving behind
incoherent phrases or no phrases at all. This story, like much else in life,
will remain unknown – if not, forgotten. For me, it is not important that the
text is legible, or even visible. It is important, however, that the viewers
can create their own stories or their own conversations with the subjects from
looking at the paintings.
My reason for choosing a similar palate within all of the
paintings is to bridge the racial differences among all of the women, and to
bring about a common ground between all of them. I want to emphasize the idea
that we see ourselves in each other – as humans and as women. We each have our
own lives and our own struggles, but during a brief moment in time, we are able
to see each other without any barriers.
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