Good Trouble | NGOC-TRAN VU

I am a storyteller, connector and interpreter. My work evokes themes of familial ties, memories, and rituals amongst issues of social justice and intersectionality. As a 1.5-generation Vietnamese American interdisciplinary artist and organizer, I am passionate in creating spaces and platforms for cross-cultural storytelling and critical discourse that challenge inequity. I thread my social practice through photography, painting, and sculpture so that my art can resonate and engage audiences with intentionality. My experiences as a person of color working with communities inside, outside and beyond the United States have informed my framing of realities, visions and possibilities. My deepest influences include my family and friends as well as fellow artists and changemakers from the past, present, and beyond.

As a creative committed to communities and social justice, my passion and background on projects and initiatives have equipped me in being an effective lead artist in trust-based partnerships. I am driven to co-create, support and protect the stories and experiences with communities of color, refugees and immigrants. Through active participation and holistic facilitation, I aim to offer new modes of resistance to interrogate and counteract the dominant narrative. I am particularly invested in the intersections of storytelling, cultures, and activism, spotlighting those who are willing to step out of bounds to advance social change. In my own healing journey, I am continuously exploring and unpacking themes of identity, justice, belonging, and power. The arts serve as portals into realms of re-imaginations pivotal to restructuring the status quo and speaking truth to power. I embrace my responsibility to facilitate work that contributes positively to my local and global community.