Vietnamese artist Tran Nguyen's fantastical world of giantesses and beasts

Like a modern reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, Tran Nguyen‘s works show gigantic young women and wild beasts towering above tiny houses, set against seas of fog and distant mountains. Born in Vietnam and raised in the U.S., Nguyen creates works that seem less like paintings than scenes from a fantasy film.

无限放大的少女和野生动物，在迷雾之中秉烛夜游；同比缩小的城堡与远山，让人疑惑这是否如当代版的梦游仙境——这些画面，出自生于越南、长于美国的艺术家 Tran Nguyen 之手。与其说是绘画，不如说这样的作品更肖似童话电影的布景。

Growing up between contrasting Vietnamese and American cultures, Nguyen has long been fascinated with dichotomies. How can two concepts be both parallel and perpendicular at the same time? It’s all dependent on perspective — ideas that initially seem incompatible with one another may actually be complementary once you examine the relationship between them. This understanding carries over into her art, which are masterful balancing acts that makes use of a multitude of contrasts. “Though I’m naturally drawn to melancholic narratives, I added the animal companions to make the painting feel less solemn,” she notes as an example. “The scale of the characters is also meant to contrast against the ordinary environments that each scene is set in, adding a sense of majesty and surrealism.”

越南与美国两个国度不同的文化冲突，让 Tran 一直以来对分化对立很感兴趣。两个不同的概念如何平行又垂直相交呈现？这完全取决于观点——一旦你审视他们之间的关系，最初似乎彼此不相容的想法，实际上可能是相互补充的。她的艺术作品也正利用这种矛盾创造了巧妙的平衡。“我很自然地被忧郁的故事所吸引，但我加入了动物伙伴，让这幅画不那么严肃。” Tran 说，“而人物放大缩小的比例，给了画面中角色以一种威严和超现实主义的感觉。”

“Ultimately, I want my viewers to reflect and feel a sense of well-being from my art,” she says. “However they perceive my work, I hope it somehow puts them at ease, especially if they feel down on their luck.”

“我希望观众能够从其中反映出一种幸福感。希望能这些画让他们感到轻松，尤其当他们感到时运不济的时候。” Tran 如是说。