Kenny Nguyen Mixed Media
American, Vietnamese
Kenny Nguyen (b. 1990, Ben Tre Province, Vietnam) creates expansive, dimensional, mixed-media paintings that center on ideas of cultural identity, displacement and integration. Nguyen grew up on a coconut farm in a rural area near the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. Despite having an established career in fashion design, he decided to join his family when they moved to the United States in 2010.
Acclimating to an American way of life proved uneasy at first, especially with a language barrier that intensified feelings of alienation and isolation. Nguyen turned to art-making as a coping mechanism and as a means to express himself in a more universal language. The transition from design to art was a natural one and in 2015 Nguyen earned a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina Charlotte, and subsequently established a studio in Charlotte.
Drawing from his experience working with textiles, in particular, silk, a culturally significant material in Vietnam, Nguyen developed a distinctive technique to produce sensuous, three-dimensional works that he describes as “deconstructed paintings.” He begins by tearing swaths of silk fabric into hundreds of strips that he dips in acrylic paint and adheres to raw canvas. Methodically, almost meditatively, he repeats the process—tearing, painting, sanding, sewing, weaving, attaching, layering—until he has a structured but malleable medium, which he shapes into undulating, sculpted forms.
Nguyen’s paintings are often affixed to the wall with pushpins, allowing him the flexibility to rehang or adjust the composition as desired. The works can be stretched flat like a traditional canvas or gently draped, folded and creased into animated structures that unfurl along the wall and pool at the floor. Each installation is unique.
In some ways, Nguyen’s deconstruction and reconstruction is akin to the experience of growing into his identity as Vietnamese American and as an artist. His use of silk, which remains the primary material in his practice, has evolved alongside him. Where he once chose it for its splendor and sense of familiarity, through a rigorous process of transformation, it now holds greater meaning for the artist: “For me, silk has become the connector tying both cultures together.”
Nguyen has participated in exhibitions across the globe, including at the Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul; CICA Museum (Czong Institute for Contemporary Art), Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Korea; Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany; LaGrange Art Museum, Georgia; Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Florida; Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, California; and The Rayburn House Office Building, United States Capitol Complex, Washington, DC. In 2016, Nguyen received the Excellence Asia Contemporary Young Artist Award from Sejong Museum of Art and in 2023, a nomination for the Joan Mitchell Fellowship. He has been awarded numerous grants, fellowships and residencies.to
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Artist: Kenny Nguyen
Three-dimensional, green, yellow, blue, hand-cut silk painting mounted on wall
By Kenny Nguyen
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Kenny Nguyen
Eruption Series No. 43, 2024
Hand-cut silk fabric, acrylic paint, canvas, mounted on wall
83 x 113 inches
210.82 x 287.02 cm
Undulated Dimensions (approx): 78 x 106 x 5 ...
Category
2010s Kenny Nguyen Mixed Media
Materials
Canvas, Silk, Acrylic
Dimensional Multicolor Horizontal Silk Painting, Contemporary Abstract Art
By Kenny Nguyen
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Kenny Nguyen
Encounter Series No.51, 2025
Hand-cut silk fabric, acrylic paint, canvas, mounted on wall
71 x 109 inches
180.3 x 269.2 cm
Undulated Dimensions (Approx.) 66 x 93 x 8 inc...
Category
2010s Kenny Nguyen Mixed Media
Materials
Canvas, Silk, Acrylic
Dimensional Yellow, Blue, White Silk Painting, Contemporary Abstract Art
By Kenny Nguyen
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Kenny Nguyen
Untitled (Diptych 1/2), 2024
Hand-cut silk fabric, acrylic paint, canvas, mounted on wall
59 x 39 inches
Undulated Dimensions (Approx.): 55.5 x 35.5 x 5 inches
KN084
Ke...
Category
2010s Kenny Nguyen Mixed Media
Materials
Canvas, Silk, Acrylic
Dimensional Blue and Orange Vertical Silk Painting, Contemporary Abstract Art
By Kenny Nguyen
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Kenny Nguyen
(Undecided Title), 2024
Hand-cut silk fabric, acrylic paint, canvas, mounted on wall
72 x 54 inches
Undulated Dimensions (Approx): 66 x 49 x 5 inches
KN066
Kenny Nguyen...
Category
2010s Kenny Nguyen Mixed Media
Materials
Canvas, Silk, Acrylic
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Kenny Nguyen mixed media for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Kenny Nguyen mixed media available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Kenny Nguyen in acrylic paint, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Kenny Nguyen mixed media, so small editions measuring 60 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Dionisios Fragias, Rachel Ovadia, and Thomas Hoitsma. Kenny Nguyen mixed media prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $9,600 and tops out at $15,000, while the average work can sell for $12,300.