I use fiber art as a tool for advocacy and meditative practice.
I am taking on a limited number of commissions yearly. If you are interested in commissioning or purchasing a piece, please send me a note.
You Said You Were Fine on Nights Like This
Medium: Hand-spun and hand-knitted steel wool
Year: 2014
You said you were fine on nights like this
is an attempt to answer the who of her and the what of us. As in:
She—I call a friend during years spent together apart in terms non-concrete. She—I call a lover on days I felt braver than the rest. When I’m alone, she remains my constant her, and I her constant she, without needs for explanation or hesitation. Two years after we met, she became my first time dealing with suicide, my guilt for not seeing the signs, my asking how I could have missed her being fine. Six years after the fact, yesterday and today, she became my N.W. still full of flesh for me yet nameless for those outside of us.
I hope to find you at the end of this II
Medium: Hair weaving, durational performance
Year: 2015
i hope to find you at the end of this
in its second iteration, is the shedding of my hair as a remembrance to my N. W. and to the part of me that she had loved most. 843 days before her suicide, with my hair covering the side of her neck, she told me once that everything would be okay.
i hope to find you at the end of this
is a space that welcomes you to share your own experiences—your own mourning, yearning, and loss—in memory of the ones you loved. Please feel free to donate a strand, a lock, a tumble of your hair to be incorporated into the weaving during the performance.
Yellow Peril
Medium: Tufting, needle punching, and weaving
Year: 2018
34 in x 42 in
For Ace Hotel, Brooklyn
Medium: Tufting
Year: 2021
34 in x 42 in
Brooklyn, 2017
Medium: Needle punching and rug hooking
Year: 2017
30 in x 40 in
Twice in the Back
Medium: Hand quilting, natural dye
Year: 2017-2018
5 ft x 5 ft
Falling
Medium: Tapestry weaving
Year: 2023
4 ft x 4 ft
5.4 Million and Counting
Medium: Quilting and embroidery
Year: 2016
A community quilt in response to numerous restrictions that could shut down nearly all abortion clinics in Texas and prevent 5.4 million women of reproductive age from accessing the healthcare they need. As the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt headed to the Supreme Court in March 2016, artist Chi Nguyen — in partnership with the Textile Arts Center and the Center for Reproductive Rights — held a series of stitch-ins to make physical the number of women whose right to safe and legal abortion is currently at risk. With over 1100 participants from 36 states and 9 countries, the largest quilt to protect abortion access was created and held up in front of the Supreme Court during the Oral Argument in March and Decision Day in June, 2016.
On the Folds of the Skin
Medium: Tapestry weaving
Year: 2020-2021
45 in x 48 in
Paddy fields, Vietnam
Medium: Tapestry weaving
Year: 2020-2021
43 in x 45 in
After 1975
Medium: Quitting, natural dye
Year: 2018
10 in x 16 in
After the Vietnam War, my parents—like many Vietnamese couples at the time—received government subsidies when they got married. Amongst other things in the family starter kit is this blanket that I have carried with me ever since we moved to the United States. The design is made up of traditional prints like a peacock, long-tailed bird, and flower cluster on top of a red background.