Darlene Nguyen-Ely

(Vietnamese, born 1968)

Darlene Nguyen-Ely is a Washington-based artist who creates wood and mixed-media sculptures that explore material and form. Nguyen-Ely was eight years old when she escaped Saigon and the Vietnam War in 1975 with an uncle, brother, and sister. A key influence on her art is her memories from her homeland and childhood in Vietnam. Her art is also an effort to reconcile her childhood in Vietnam with her present life in the United States.