Tia-Thuy Nguyen Brings her Clouds to the Sky of Art Dubai

Tia-Thuy Nguyen is bringing her “clouds” to the “sky” of Art Dubai 2025. Almine Rech is showcasing the Vietnamese multi-disciplinary artist’s three artworks at the event, which are cloud paintings made from quartz and recycled glass.

The artist has presented clouds in her previous artworks before, but in these recent pieces, she shows them in a peaceful state, instead of the stormy angst her previous works depicted.

Image source: @tia.thuynguyen. 

“I wanted to give quartz and glass a new form, instead of letting them fade into obscurity. These embellished pieces are more solid and rugged, yet also more fragile, making it more challenging to express the fluidity and subtle color gradients of clouds compared to the materials I’ve used in the previous works,” Thuy Nguyen told UAE Moments.

These challenges have borne pieces that present the clouds and skies with various hues, some of which viewers will find familiar, others that stand out more, nonetheless, they harmonize to create Thuy Nguyen’s vibrant skies.

When we asked the artist about her fascination with clouds, she said, “There is no beginning, no end to the life cycle of clouds. Clouds play a harmonious melody with other natural elements - they accept the very influences that change them. Clouds do not resist, nor do they fight. For these reasons, clouds are like a mantra of a very peaceful life.”

Tia Thuy Nguyen's Creative Process

Image source: @tia.thuynguyen.

With her creative process, Thuy Nguyen chases harmony and freedom. “My creative process often involves dreaming about the impossible, weaving in materials and techniques that resemble me as a person and allow me to dream freely,” she explained.

However, creating this harmony on canvas requires more than pictures of clouds and skies. The artist experiments with both traditional and modern creative techniques, which allows her to be versatile and innovative with her artistic pieces. She sources the materials for her artistic creations from Vietnam. “This is not only because I value the stories, people, techniques, and culture of the place where I grew up, but also because these are the things I understand most deeply,” Thuy Nguyen shared.

In addition to her unique process, Thuy Nguyen’s artworks standout for their vivid colors, which the artist says “serve as a metaphor for emotions… I see my attraction to color as a means to subtly yet passionately express my feelings.”

Image source: @tia.thuynguyen.

This form of expression has led to the creation of magnificent artistic projects, including ‘Drops of the Sun’ and ‘Sparkle in the Vastness’. In addition to being an expression of her own feelings, Thuy Nguyen hopes that “[her] stories find affinity with other Vietnamese, with other women, and more generally with people from all over the world.”

The Evolution of the Artistic Community in Vietnam

Image source: @factorysaigon.

The Vietnamese artist has been able to do this because of the evolution of the artist community in Vietnam. At the start of her career, Thuy Nguyen found that artistic conversations and projects were limited to a small community of artists and lovers, however, things have changed significantly since that time. The country’s government has also started to support creative industries. Years ago, the public sector also heavily neglected public art; this form of work was “subjected to extensive committee review and cultural policy regulation.”

If public art was allowed, only monuments of figurative representation and narratives were made. However, Thuy Nguyen is set to create a public art sculpture, ‘Resurrection’, for the historic square located next to the famous Hanoi Opera House. The sculpture is an extension of her previous project ‘Flower of Life’, representing a significant change in the public art scene in Vietnam.

Twenty years ago, there were no art centers, only a few exhibition centers, but no professional curatorship until the 2000s. An artistic career in Vietnam was not secure and dependable at the time, and the memories of that experience led Thuy Nguyen to establish The Factor Contemporary Arts Centre in 2016. “I told myself I needed to build a platform to connect everyone in the Vietnamese art scene… It’s also my way to give back, to develop the artistic community in Vietnam, in return for all that the artistic community has given me.”

The Artist's Other Notable Works 

In addition to creating this art center, the artist also opened the ‘Thuy Design House’ in 2011 and the film production company Xuong Phim Mau Hong in 2017. She has exhibited her artworks across Vietnam and Europe, including exhibiting ‘Flower of Life’ at the prestigious Château La Coste’s collection in France in 2019, becoming the first Vietnamese artist to do so. Thuy Nguyen also collaborated with the globally-renowned couture brand Christian Dior Couture to create the stunning ‘Lady Cloud’ handbag for the ‘Lady Dior as Seen By’ exhibition in 2024.

If you would love to see Thuy Nguyen’s stunning artworks about clouds at Art Dubai. Book your tickets here.

The art fair runs until Sunday, April 20.