Primarily rooted in the disciplines of drawing and painting, Z.T. Nguyen's practice considers the space located between desire and transformation. Many of his works—lightly creased and constructed from 8.5x11” sheets of paper for ease of transport—are meant to be folded, packed, and carried: a meditation on the crossings of various geopolitical, bodily, and psychic thresholds.
Through monochromatic washes of bright, alarming colors and unsettling, dreamlike imagery, Nguyen's works depict moments of tension, caution, contemplation, and longing. He is interested in the ways that these forces and feelings emerge from difficult social histories of sexuality, political upheaval, displacement, and migration.