Tuan Nguyen

(American, born 1972, died 2024)

Tuan Nguyen (1972-2024) takes the traditional materials of picture making and rearranges them in new ways. His artworks challenge meaning and reset expectations, in order to create space for new possibilities. His last artworks explore themes related to his own mortality, the cancer that weakened his body, and the afterlife.

Tuan Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in Florida. His experience and identity as a refugee, and the awareness of not belonging in either his homeland or the U.S., informed his art. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (1994) in painting from the University of Florida and a Master of Fine Arts degree (1999) in painting from the University of Washington. Tuan lived and worked in Seattle.