Embroidered Visions

My work brings together abstraction and representation in embroidered paintings and drawings. Symbols and text provide positive energy and humans, other animals and plants co-exist in spontaneous environments. I use an expressive style and a variety of materials to develop mysterious places and otherworldly moods. My artwork reflects my interests in beauty, folklore, and Vietnamese culture.

I primarily work on fabric using embroidery techniques I've learned in Vietnam, but also include beadwork, cut fabric, painting and drawing. The frames are made from natural wood or found moulding and laser engraved to bring the whole piece together as an object.

Systems
2022
Digital and hand embroidery and beads on quilted fabric, pyrography on wood frame
28 x 19 inches

Five
2021
Digital and hand embroidery on stretched fabric, pyrography on wood frame
20 x 10 inches

I am currently studying to be a nurse. This has recently influenced my artwork. Skeletal System is part of a series of work on paper about anatomy and physiology that I have studied. Systems reflects my interest in the various systems and their functions. I started to use beads directly in the work because they are everywhere in South Louisiana. I put a large intestine around the frame because it looks like a fancy ribbon. This was engraved on wood.

Two and Four
2022
Embroidery on fabric, pyrography on wood frame
14 x 14 inches

Lucky Carp
Hand embroidery and beadwork, pyrography on wood frame
14 x 14 inches

Dragon Turtle is one of the Four Gods of the four directions in Vietnamese culture. It symbolizes good luck and prosperity. This piece is mostly embroidered but sometimes I also like to show the hand drawing with the use of markers in the background of the piece. Five is a depiction of five skulls, the fifth one in the center being an energy interpretation, mostly made from beads.

Lucky Carp is mostly hand embroidered, and using beads. It symbolizes full term energy in nature. Four Fengshui is one of my favorite embroidered works. The dragon in the center symbolizes the first god of four in Vietnamese culture.

Dragon Turtle
2022
Ink, machine embroidery, hand embroidery on sheer fabric, pyrography on wood frame
22 x 17 inches

Four Fengshui
2022
Embroidery on fabric, pyrography on wood frame
12 x 12 inches

Duyen Nguyen is a visionary artist raised on a small commune in Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. Duyen spent her childhood drawing and hand-sewing. Nguyen's work is featured in several private collections throughout the United States. She has created over 1,000 artworks, including clothing designs and collaborative paintings with her husband (as Nguyen Johnson Company) since she moved to the United States in 2016. Duyen has exhibited her work at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the 6th Louisiana Biennial National Exhibition in Rustin Louisiana, Art Flow 2022 in Baton Rouge, and the Louisiana Contemporary Exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.