Andy Nguyen, Award-Profitable Artist, Reminds Folks of Their Roots

Andy Nguyen’s artwork studio is a sea of blue — the partitions are adorned with framed pictures, collages and cyanotypes (blue “camera-less” pictures created when pictures are uncovered to UV lights on paper or material). Many of the pictures are printed and adhered to cardboard cutouts lined in shiny gold foil. Every picture is an individual: a toddler, a mom, a father, a grandmother, an aunt or uncle, an immigrant. His newest work in progress options cyanotype portraits of Vietnamese American immigrants superimposed over cardboard boats, recalling the practically one million refugees who fled Vietnam between 1975 and the Nineteen Nineties.  

“I collect pictures from people and communities,” says Nguyen, ’19 BFA, ’26 MFA Photography. “I’m very interested in immigrants — Vietnamese American immigrants, and also people from around the world. I like to ask, ‘How did you get to America? How is your life now?’” 

Andy Nguyen

Nguyen’s origin story is clear in his work as nicely. Born in Saigon, Vietnam,, he immigrated to the U.S. as an adolescent and found a love for images as a school pupil. He sees artwork as a way to attach, and hopes that by asking topics about their household histories and journeys to the United States, he can assist floor untold tales.

“I hope people never forget where they come from,” he says. “My goal is to keep connecting with people and to become a teacher.”

On November 6, Nguyen might be honored on the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco, the place he’s one in all 15 rising visible artists to obtain the 2025 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Award. His work might be on show by means of December 7. This newest achievement is only one instance of his dedication to group by means of artwork.

“This recognition means so much to me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow, create and connect with such an inspiring community of artists,” he says. “Huge thanks to my family, friends, and mentors who have supported me on this journey.”

Keeping tradition alive by means of artwork

Nguyen’s 2019 BFA exhibition, “Cultures Through Lenses,” featured a sequence of cyanotypes that he created utilizing household pictures shared by group members, together with California Assemblymember Ash Kalra and Hellen Sims, ’67 Sociology, the previous president of Silicon Valley NAACP. Some of the portraits had been of the interviewees themselves (together with an iconic childhood image of Kalra in a plaid shirt), whereas others had been of grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors who had traveled far seeking higher lives.

“Over the years, Andy’s artistic talent has enriched our opportunity to see life experiences & culture in a very meaningful way,” says Sims. “He is so talented and committed to his work.”

Since then, his work has been exhibited at San José City Hall, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at SJSU, and the Vietnamese American Service Center, to call a number of. During his junior 12 months at SJSU, Nguyen was named the Trustee Emeritus William Hauck and Padget Kaiser ​Scholar by the California State University (CSU), an award for excellent achievement given to college students who reveal superior tutorial efficiency, private accomplishments, group service and monetary want.​​​​

He has labored with many humanitarian foundations, together with the Friends of Hue Foundation Children’s Shelter in Vietnam, BeCause for Hope and the International Children Assistance Network (ICAN) Earlier this 12 months, Nguyen’s portraits, together with the cyanotype boats, had been included in a particular occasion on the Vietnamese American Service Center in San José that acknowledged the fiftieth anniversary of Black April, or the autumn of Saigon, when North Vietnamese forces seized the capital of South Vietnam. Thousands of Vietnamese individuals had been compelled to evacuate.

As a part of his exhibit, Nguyen printed pictures of lotus flowers on conventional Vietnamese garments. Photo: Andy Nguyen.

“Andy is a humanitarian and community-focused artist whose cyanotypes immerse San José in tones of memory and connection,” says Binh Danh, ’02 BFA Photography, affiliate professor of images at San José State. “Through the magic of sunlight and chemistry, he creates portraits of a city’s diverse community. Each image proves how we and our families came to be in America. We don’t leave our past behind; we carry it with us, like letters of blue ink that never fade. His work encourages us to hold onto these letters, even when they are hard to read, especially now, when the meaning of belonging is once again being questioned in our very home.”

In addition to his cyanotype portraits, Nguyen pictures individuals and landscapes in black and white and coloration. He’s keen on a picture of an older girl promoting bananas on a wet day, intrigued by her persistence regardless of the climate. The yellow fruit stands out in contemporary reduction in opposition to the blue tarps behind her, a decided expression on her face.

“Lots of people like this photo because it’s so emotional,” he says. “I take photos like this because I want to share my Vietnamese culture with everyone.”

The solely portraits Nguyen has framed of himself are included in a cyanotype collage, the phrases “Thất bại là mẹ thành công” highlighted in gold foil. The expression interprets to “failure is the mother of success.”

“I like this quote because when you fall down, you have to get up again,” he says. “When I really feel down, working with individuals in my group retains me going. I do what I like most, which is to make artwork.

Learn more about Andy Nguyen’s art.