Tin Nguyen (b. 1989, Vietnam) is a queer artist based in Brooklyn. He makes observational and autobiographical paintings of what has occurred within his space, surroundings, and his own body, leaving viewers with a teasing taste of closeness and intimacy. The images he paints are quiet, tender, and warm; especially when contrasted with the chaotic environment of New York, they suggest a rejection of the city’s metropolis ideals.

Interested in internal dialogues he has with himself through painting intuitively, he leaves an impression of a casual, yet intimate invitation into his world and the reflections of queer identity. Nguyen works from photographs that he has taken after being attracted to a certain quality of light and shadow. These collected images idle on the cloud waiting for a time to be resurfaced and re-examined; in doing so, an opportunity emerges for self-inquiry through his meditative practice of painting.

As he shifts the gaze towards himself, he questions how we view and present ourselves, pointing to the suggestive nature of nonverbal communication. By focusing on the sculptural aspect of subtle colors of light on his body and his aesthetic choice of Calvin Klein briefs subjugated to his queerness, he offers viewers the sensation of subtle eroticism and space to experience an elevated sense of voyeurism and vulnerability.