Thao Nguyen Phan

Blending myth and memory with urgent ecological and political questions, Thao Nguyen Phan creates visually poetic works that traverse painting, moving image, and installation. Her practice unfolds across layered narratives drawn from Vietnam’s cultural heritage, colonial history, and environmental crises, revealing how personal and collective histories intertwine. Phan’s multimedia narratives often intertwine fictional and archival sources, creating visually rich worlds where folklore, literature, and socio-political critique coalesce. Her works are both lyrical and incisive, examining issues such as land use, ecological transformation, and the residual effects of colonialism. Painting remains central to her process, not only as a visual language but as a mode of temporal layering—where past, present, and speculative futures merge. These painterly elements often extend into her video works and spatial installations, which unfold as dreamlike, non-linear meditations on cultural inheritance and erasure. Through a delicate balance of form and content, Phan’s practice highlights overlooked or suppressed narratives, especially those tied to rural life, indigenous knowledge, and environmental precarity. Her work invites reflection on the fragility of both natural and cultural ecosystems, while offering new ways to imagine resilience, continuity, and care within a rapidly shifting world. ...