An Ngoc Pham (b1960 Vietnam)

I am a New York City based artist working in mixed-media.

For my most recent multiples, I use intricately stacked, glued and carved fibers of wood to create minimalist abstractions of daily objects to provoke poetic contemplations exploring the Eastern philosophies of the I Ching, Ying and Yang and Taoism. The dualities contained in the philosophies are embedded in the works themselves.  The sculptures play between two and three dimensions where the different colored wood species are used to create the illusion of line and the wood grain pattern and texture is used to create the illusion of space.  The physicality of the works themselves become a vehicle to ponder emptiness, stillness and loss.

My earlier artworks in oil painting and light sculpture were originally shown in the 1990s as part of the Asian-American artist activist group known as Godzilla and in group shows alongside other Vietnamese artists. Honing my skills working as a carpenter for over 25 years and influenced as an artist assistant to sculptors such as the late Richard Artschwager and Dan Flavin, my precise works are ingrained with my views and recollections of growing up during the war in Vietnam and my experience as a refugee in Queens.

I grew up in a war-torn Vietnam and escaped to the US in 1979 as a refugee after being one the survivors of a disastrous boat trip.  The refugee boat from Vietnam sank off the coast of Malaysia leaving behind 150 people drowned including family members.  My art reflects the experience and the personal impact of political policy making that regards little account of the common man.  My work is a chronicle of the journey, somewhat quiet, marking my own history as a witness to the modern changing political landscape from my homeland to the current issues in the Middle East to today’s controversial American policies.