Portfolio: Han Nguyen

Untitled #6, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 4 1/4  x 4 in. image on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: An abstract image of variegated light gray. The image is divided by an undulating, vertical black line, which appears like a cut in the image’s surface.]

I first learned about Han Nguyen’s work in the mid-1990s, twenty years after he immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1975. I encountered his photographs when both our work was part of a group exhibition, Facts Showered with Light, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. That work was from his series Stonehenge, and I found it both formally and conceptually compelling, particularly given photography’s rich history with England’s famous Neolithic site. In his 1999 solo exhibition at MOPA, In Studio, I discovered that his practice is a deep exploration of the medium of photography, as seen in numerous, distinct bodies of work. At the time, I was using a traditional form of photography in my own practice— mostly black and white formal landscapes made with a large format camera— which made his playfulness and curiosity about the medium a revelation for me. Seeing his use of studio materials, as well as the fluidity between color and black and white, was refreshing, especially in a medium that so often draws adherents to singular processes and expressions. His minimalist images of water (Flow), spotlit photographs of plants (Garden at Night), and small clay houses photographed against a neutral background (Model Home) are just a few examples of projects that suggest the range of his creative output.

Meeting Han Nguyen in person is a pleasure. His humility serves as a window into the creative realm of his work, which is playful, thoughtful, and inquisitive. Looking at the arc of his career over the last 35 years, it is striking to behold such a diverse approach to the singular medium of photography, underscored by a keen understanding of photographic materials. In his work, Han has touched on most genres found in the history of photography, and made connections to his personal history as an immigrant and U.S. citizen that reflect an ongoing interest in ideas of place, dreams, and the fluid meaning of home. 

His most recent body of work is comprised entirely of untitled collages: an amalgam of ideas composed of printed photographs, cut paper, and, in some, watercolor, all crafted with his signature meticulousness. We see suggestions of landscape, the human figure, and a remarkable sensibility incorporating the principles of graphic design in each individual work. Rooted in his chosen medium of photography, it is easy to feel a sense of surprise over the negative space, splashes of pure color, and a denial of photography’s inherent ability to describe the exterior world with precision. Han’s work serves as a reminder that the materials we use as artists are as dynamic as our choices of expression, and offer the foundation for a rewarding creative practice.

-scott b. davis, photographer and Founder of Medium Photo

Untitled #1, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 3 1/8 x 4 1/8 in.

[Image description: An abstract image, the upper third of which is a variegated light gray, while the lower two thirds are a variegated dark gray. The sections are divided by an undulating, horizontal black line.]

Untitled #3, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 8 x 10 in.

[Image description: An abstract image divided into two sections. The section on the left is a variegated light gray, while the right is a variegated dark gray. Dividing the sections is a collage of shard-like forms in multiple tones of gray. A small length of one shard extends above the top edge of the image, while three shards extend past the bottom edge of the image.]

Untitled #4, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 3 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. image on 10 x 10 in. paper.

[Image description: A black and white photograph of two legs with light skin, bent at the knees, as if seen from the subject’s perspective. On top of each thigh is superimposed a cut-out photograph of an eye with thick eyelashes.]

Untitled #7, 2020, watercolor, chromogenic and gelatin silver; unique collage, 6 x 4 3/4 in. image on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: A gray rectangle with an undulating upper edge is inset into a black background. At the top of the image, an orange pyramid with a rounded top seems to hover, and underneath it is a green bean-shaped form. Below that, a speckled brown oval is overlaid against the gray rectangle.]

Untitled #8, 2020, watercolor, chromogenic, and gelatin silver; unique collage, 3 5/8 in. x 5 1/2 in. image on 8 x 10 in. paper.

[Image description: An image divided in half by a diagonal line. The left side of the image is lime green, with various forms— including an orange rectangle with an oval cut out of it, a burgundy and gray striped crescent, a brown oval, and a black rectangle— arranged on it. The right side of the image is light orange, overlaid with a blue oval, brown bean-shape, green rectangle, and brown rectangle with an oval cut out of it.]

Untitled #11, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 4 x 6 in. image on 8 x 10 in. paper. 

[Image description: In light-to-medium shades of gray, mounded forms overlap each other to create an abstract, mountainscape-like composition.]

Untitled #13, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage,  5 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: A gray cut-out of a light-skinned figure’s lower back and buttocks, flipped upside down, overlaid against a gray background.]

Untitled #14, 2020, watercolor and gelatin silver; unique collage, 6 1/8 in. x 4 3/4 in. image on 10 in. x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: A blurry black and white photograph of a light-skinned person’s nude torso, overlaid with four leaf forms painted in small, multi-colored dots.]

Untitled #16, 2020, tea toned gelatin silver; unique collage, 4 x 6 in. image on 8 x 10 in. paper.

[Image description: Mounded forms in light gray, dark gray, and brown overlap each other to create an abstract, mountainscape-like composition.]

Untitled #17, 2020, tea toned gelatin silver; unique collage, 6  x 4 in. image on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: Rounded brown and gray forms overlap each other in a concentric composition to create an effect of three-dimensional depth.]

Untitled #18, 2020, gelatin silver and chromogenic print; unique collage, 5 3/8 x 3 7/8 in. image on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: Two cut-out forms overlaid on a medium gray background. The first form is an irregular rectangle, positioned vertically in the upper left area of the image. It is divided into three sections, the top dark gray and the lower two a medium gray. The second form abuts the first with a straight left edge, while its right edge is curved. It is a range of brown tones.]

Untitled #20, 2020, watercolor, chromogenic, and gelatin silver; unique collage, 6 x 4 3/4 in. image on 10 x 8 in. paper.

[Image description: A variegated gray, vertical rectangle overlaid on a black background. The right edge of the rectangle curves gently inward and is lined with green. A red oval rests in the center of the gray rectangle.]

Untitled #22, 2020, gelatin silver; unique collage, 4 1/2 x 5 3/8 in. image on 8 x 10 in. paper.

[Image description: The image is divided in half with a vertical line. The background on the left is white, while the background on the right is cream-colored. Inset in the page is a gray rectangle, the left side of which is a cool gray and the right side of which is a warm gray. Dividing the two sections is a shard-like form that extends above and below the edges of the gray rectangle. The form is a light gray, with a stark line down the center and faint lines horizontal lines throughout.]