Andy Nguyen, Award-Winning Artist, Reminds People of Their Roots

Andy Nguyen’s exhibit, “Blue to Freedom,” showcased his cyanotype portraits superimposed over boat cutouts. Photo courtesy of Andy Nguyen.

Andy Nguyen’s art studio is a sea of blue — the walls are adorned with framed photographs, collages and cyanotypes (blue “camera-less” photographs created when images are exposed to UV lights on paper or cloth). Many of the photographs are printed and adhered to cardboard cutouts covered in shiny gold foil. Every image is a person: a child, a mother, a father, a grandmother, an aunt or uncle, an immigrant. His latest work in progress features cyanotype portraits of Vietnamese American immigrants superimposed over cardboard boats, recalling the nearly one million refugees who fled Vietnam between 1975 and the 1990s.  

“I collect pictures from people and communities,” says Nguyen, ’19 BFA, ’26 MFA Photography. “I’m very interested in immigrants — Vietnamese American immigrants, and also people from around the world. I like to ask, ‘How did you get to America? How is your life now?’” 

Andy Nguyen

“I hope people never forget where they come from,” he says. “My goal is to keep connecting with people and to become a teacher.”

On November 6, Nguyen will be honored at the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco, where he is one of 15 emerging visual artists to receive the 2025 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Award. His work will be on display through December 7. This latest achievement is just one example of his commitment to community through art.

“This recognition means so much to me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow, create and connect with such an inspiring community of artists,” he says. “Huge thanks to my family, friends, and mentors who have supported me on this journey.”

Keeping culture alive through art

Nguyen’s 2019 BFA exhibition, “Cultures Through Lenses,” featured a series of cyanotypes that he created using family photos shared by community members, including California Assemblymember Ash Kalra and Hellen Sims, ’67 Sociology, the former president of Silicon Valley NAACP. Some of the portraits were of the interviewees themselves (including an iconic childhood picture of Kalra in a plaid shirt), while others were of grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors who had traveled far in search of better lives.

“Over the years, Andy’s artistic talent has enriched our opportunity to see life experiences & culture in a very meaningful way,” says Sims. “He is so talented and committed to his work.”

Since then, his work has been exhibited at San José City Hall, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at SJSU, and the Vietnamese American Service Center, to name a few. During his junior year at SJSU, Nguyen was named the Trustee Emeritus William Hauck and Padget Kaiser ​Scholar by the California State University (CSU), an award for outstanding achievement given to students who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.​​​​

He has worked with many humanitarian foundations, including the Friends of Hue Foundation Children’s Shelter in Vietnam, BeCause for Hope and the International Children Assistance Network (ICAN) Earlier this year, Nguyen’s portraits, including the cyanotype boats, were included in a special event at the Vietnamese American Service Center in San José that recognized the 50th anniversary of Black April, or the fall of Saigon, when North Vietnamese forces seized the capital of South Vietnam. Thousands of Vietnamese people were forced to evacuate.

As part of his exhibit, Nguyen printed images of lotus flowers on traditional Vietnamese clothes. Photo: Andy Nguyen.

In addition to his cyanotype portraits, Nguyen photographs people and landscapes in black and white and color. He’s partial to an image of an older woman selling bananas on a rainy day, intrigued by her persistence despite the weather. The yellow fruit stands out in fresh relief against the blue tarps behind her, a determined expression on her face.

“Lots of people like this photo because it’s so emotional,” he says. “I take photos like this because I want to share my Vietnamese culture with everyone.”

The only portraits Nguyen has framed of himself are included in a cyanotype collage, the words “Thất bại là mẹ thành công” highlighted in gold foil. The expression translates to “failure is the mother of success.”

“I like this quote because when you fall down, you have to get up again,” he says. “When I feel down, working with people in my community keeps me going. I do what I love most, which is to make art.

Learn more about Andy Nguyen’s art.