Sometimes creating something successful and transporting takes layers... and layers... and layers. And with immense imagination and skilled hands, local artist Em Nguyen has captured the whimsy and playfulness in her visual dreamscapes. Inspired by cities that never existed, Nguyen uses her work to capture the color, spirit and wistfulness of a nostalgia for something you’ve never seen up close. We spent some time in her studio space to unpack her practice.

What got you started on your visual-arts journey?

I graduated from Washington (High School), and I went to University of South Dakota. I ended up taking one drawing class—Drawing 101—and for a senior project it was a charcoal shading drawing. I got a bunch of really good reviews on it, and it encouraged me to do more. So I made more photorealistic charcoal pieces, and I ended up having my first show at Michelle’s Café (now M.B. Haskett). I ended up having my next show at Touch of Europe (now Blarney Stone). After that, I started working at Lucky’s, and I started doing the Art Collective there.

(Editor’s Note: The Art Collective is the largest gathering of local artists in the Sioux Falls area and has been happening for over a decade. It gives a chance for area artists to meet-and-greet with appreciators and fellow artists, as well as share and sell their work.)

There was nowhere to collectively present yourselves as artists—you always had to solo show, which has its own anxiety for people, especially when they’ve never done anything before. I got to meet a bunch of really awesome people. Now I pretty much full-time freelance paint by commission.

What would you consider your go-to style?

I’ve surfed through a variety of different styles. I did charcoal for about two years—but it’s very unforgiving. Every mistake you can see, so everything has to be perfect. I switched to oil, but didn’t realize the tediousness of cleaning up your paintbrushes after oil. I just wasn’t ready for that type of commitment! Then I switched to watercolor, and now I do a marriage of watercolor, acrylic and penwork. I’m eventually leaning into putting more mixed media on top of everything else. I’m kind of layering this cake of styles throughout the last decade, and now this is where I’m at.

I’m obsessed with buildings—It’s all I want to do now. Something about Inception and Dr. Strange—that image of cities being bent into themselves I really like. I’ve always dreamed of being a more surrealistic painter—but set in realism. This is my perception of my surrealism—essentially creating Polly Pocket worlds within that same idea.

What is your artistic process?

I layer until the point where I have to make myself stop, otherwise I could just keep on going. It could be endless. It starts with just a base, and I go through adding layer after layer of padded paint before I start gluing things on. I just recently started varnishing my paint, so I’m also kind of obsessed with that.

What is your background?

I moved here when I was two from Vietnam. My uncle is half-American, so we were sponsored through his immediate family after the war. I’ve lived here my whole life—I’m 33 now, so I’ve lived here 31 years. The support here is amazing—it’s like a warm, cozy blanket. Who doesn’t love that? Right now, I’m in that mid-woman range, where I have a five-year-old and this is where I am. But I do dream of cities, I dream of buildings. I dream of exciting places in my mind. I started incorporating paper planes (in my work), because I see them as little traveling messages. I’m obsessed with telephone lines and communication images. I don’t model any of these cities after anywhere—I don’t look up anything. I just keep on stacking squares and decide if I want it to be a two-dimensional world, a three-dimensional world or both.

Do you see your inspirations come and go in phases?

If I had my free will to pick whatever subject, I would say no. But because I’m so commission-based at the moment, I’ve done a lot of owls, a lot of elephants. I really enjoy doing them, and now I can almost do them like the back of my hand. I think my biggest joy now at the moment is I just want to make animals that look like they’re carrying a bunch of buildings. I really love all animals. A lot of the symbolism is chosen by the client, but if it’s up to me, I like to choose animals with a lot of texture.

What parts of your life have impacted your work?

One thing that impacts me is the people who have followed me and supported me—it means something to me to hear people’s feedback who have known me through this whole journey. It acknowledges that I’m going in the right direction. I feel like there’s a lot of insecurity in putting your work out there. Some people are so brave. And the support of the Art Collective has consistently kept me on task. It anchors me.

I want to treat this as something that’s fun and relaxing and forgiving. And it’s taken me this long to realize that’s what this is. Five years ago I was so stressed out over constantly having to produce. Now I just go with it.

The World Builder