From the viewpoint of the airplane window down to the troposphere, her sketches and photographs constitute a kind of visual diary. From these as starting points, Nguyễn creates the lusciously tactile paintings and mixed media works through which we are intimately connected to the artist's history – her father had been a MiG21 pilot in the Vietnam People’s Air Force during the Vietnam War.

Shattered horizons #12, 2019, Oil on canvas, 60 x 120cm

“He used to tell me stories about his plane soaring into the clouds and the apprehension he felt as he didn’t know what lay beyond them: there could be Americans, or just a sunny, beautiful day. That bravery and sense of discovery has always inspired me.”

Tia-Thuỷ Nguyễn