Explore Michelle Nguyen's Mythical Art at Bau-Xi Gallery

This artist – on exhibition in Trick Mirror at Bau-Xi Gallery – uses oil, pastel, and vivid colours to illustrate worlds dense with mythology, symbolism, and narrative.

An artwork featuring two stylized birds with vibrant plumage, surrounded by red flowers and a butterfly, held by hands in a mystical composition.

Full of narrative symbols, Michelle Nguyen’s dramatic tableaus sing with chaotic tension and humorous undertones. (Above: The Oracle, oil on canvas, 17 x 12.75.”

A colorful, ornate cake decorated with flowers and birds, surrounded by abstract, dark forms resembling fabric or drapery. — Luxury Birdbath, 48 X 48 in., oil and pastel on canvas source

What Nguyen says about her Luxury Birdbath:

“In all honesty, I was watching a lot of that Netflix show “Is It Cake?” at the time I started painting this like the dumb absorbent sponge I am. This particular painting speaks to the growing class gap and the wasteful excess of extravagant living. That being said, there is also a thread of humour here. I wanted the birdbath to be outrageous, like something you can get in a SkyMall catalogue.”

A nude figure bending over a pond with rippling water, surrounded by colorful foliage and water lilies, depicting a serene and introspective moment. — Bathing, 48 X 48 in., oil on canvas

The painting below, called Siege, is composed in a theatrical arrangement of figures. Read more about its symbolism, including how Nguyen’s background as a child of Vietnamese refugees affects her work.

A vibrant oil and pastel painting depicting a lush, chaotic scene with figures interspersed among greenery, conveying themes of mythology and narrative.

Her canvases are populated by elegant, humorous or even grotesque figures, as well as carefully selected vegetation and objects – often iterations of classical motifs – that appear to be part dream, part nightmare – Bau-Xi Gallery