Linh VH Nguyen

I am a queer Vietnamese-Canadian artist living and creating on the unceded lands of the Anishinaabe Algonquin people. I have a background in photography and dance and my practice explores ways to visualize multiplicity, including those of our memories and identities. My aim is to evoke reflections on interconnectedness, ways in which memories are stored, reconstructed and released within our body and psyche, and to remind the audience of their own transformative power to reshape our own perspectives and imagine new futures.

My multidisciplinary approach blends historical photographic processes, digital manipulation, and figuration to create composites that merge the physical and digital. Influenced by my Vietnamese heritage and performing arts practice.

My artistic practice explores themes of trauma, resilience, and identity reconstruction through two interconnected series, dandelion dancer and elseworld. Both series delve into how memories are stored, released, and reconstructed, reflecting on the complexities of healing and the reclamation of personal and collective narratives.

The dandelion dancer embodies a deeply personal journey of reconnecting with the body and self-image through movement and stillness. Each figure is meticulously crafted from dried weeds and floral debris—materials often discarded and overlooked. By transforming these fragments into intricate forms, the series challenges conventional notions of beauty and value, while symbolizing the cyclical nature of growth and renewal.

Building on these ideas, elseworld expands the conversation to address intergenerational trauma and complex family dynamics. Featuring pairs of figures suspended in “mid-flight,” the series captures a sense of being caught between time and place. Strings and wires hold the figures aloft, symbolizing fragility, tension, and the dualities of conflict and resilience. The backgrounds incorporate open-source Southeast Asian scroll paintings, reflecting on cultural erasure and struggles against dominant power structures, while harmonious colors and compositions offer a façade of conformity and beauty that contrasts with the discord of the figures.

Together, dandelion dancer and elseworld reflect my commitment to creating work that sparks reflection and dialogue about the intersections of memory, identity, and transformation. Through these series, I aim to inspire viewers to engage with their own narratives and consider the collective processes of healing and reclamation.