“I enjoy creating an atmosphere that appears ordinary then juxtaposing it with elements that break this to add a subtle hint of surrealism.” It’s been almost two years since we took a look at artist Tran Nguyen’s paintings and since then she’s created a stunning collection of beautiful acrylic and colored pencil works. The piece above, called Through a Lone, Winding Road, was made for 20 Years Under the Influence of Juxtapoz, a group exhibition which is going on from now till April 19. The show is currently on view at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and it features close to 100 artists who have graced the pages or website of the influential contemporary art magazine Juxtapoz. In this amazing exhibition, Tran joins other artists that have been regularly featured on My Modern Met including Amy Sol, Audrey Kawasaki, and Andy Kehoe.
Similar to her older works, this new piece shows a beautiful, larger than life woman in a mysteriously surreal setting. While standing in a lake, her blue skirt becomes one with nature, like soft rocks emerging out of the water. When we asked the artist what the story is behind the piece, she explained it’s about exploring the idea of nostalgia. “I wanted to focus on the wandering through old memories represented by empty neighborhoods.” This was created on wood panel and retails for $3,500. It has already sold.
Nguyen’s pieces typically take between two to three weeks to create, one week for preliminaries and about two weeks for the actual laying of color. “My technique can be extremely tedious,” she tells us. “I work with very diluted glazes of acrylics which is labor intensive, sometimes requiring 60 or more glazes. As wonderful as colored pencils can be, it’s like painting with a pencil. It’s lovely for subtle gradients, but again, requires a lot of patience.” You can see this painting along with several of her current works on her website, Facebook or Instagram. Here are some of our favorites.
