Paige Nguyen, Portrait of Nguyễn Xuân Uyết and Cao Thị Nhiêu, oil on canvas $3,000

This work is based off Ellen Murray’s Portrait of B.J. Smith from the OSU Museum of Art, in which the Oklahoma State University donor sits in front of his home.  I painted this work of my grandparents in front of their own home to show a less known and celebrated legacy, but an important one, nonetheless. After fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s at the end of the war, they become known in the American communities where they lived for helping to build up a safe space for other Vietnamese immigrants like them and foster a community for this population that did not previously exist. My piece aims to highlight the everyday immigrant that contributes to their new community, whilst remaining an unknown name. It celebrates the American whose face is not often associated within high society in the United States, and calls to attention the importance of giving back to a new community, while also maintaining cultural roots.

Paige Nguyen, Specially Processed American Meat, screenprint on paper; wood, $99

In the broader American context, I noticed a lot of people are really disgusted by the concept of canned salty meat, but growing up, my family and many Asian families used spam in fried rice, stir fries, sandwiches, musubis, and with rice and eggs. After researching, I found that during World War II and through many wars in the East over Communism where America fought, Spam was brought for American soldiers to eat and for civilian relief programs. To this day, many Asian households use spam as their source of protein. Americans, especially after the wars, associated Spam with low morale and poor conditions, but Asian households associate it with hope and the American Dream.