Nguyen Tuan, 1963 | Figurative sculptor

Born in Vietnam, Nguyen Tuan experienced the fall of Saigon in 1975, survived a failed escape attempt from his native land in 1988, witnessed the death of his close friend in the same escape attempt, and was then cast into a concentration camp.
Almost miraculously, he escaped the camp and fled to the United States where he became captivated with sculpting.
In 1995, Tuan Nguyen received his fine art degree from the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, CA.

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The Vietnamese master sculptor Nguyen Tuan is internationally known for his seemingly "weightless" figurative sculpture merging Western techniques with traditional Eastern values. He has coined the term "existential balance" to bring emphasis to the importance of balance to human existence.

“Art is vital for me. It is almost a religion. It means to believe in people, in life, in love. It is a response to what is beautiful and simple. As an artist I do what I do for no other purpose than to express my feelings” - Nguyen Tuan

Tuan Nguyen has received the Gloria Medal* from the National Sculpture Society (New York), a medal designed by C. Paul Jennewein and bestowed upon a young artist in Jennewein's memory for a meritorious body of work as determined by the luminary board of the Society.

In 2006, Tuan received the Gold Medal* for Sculpture from the California Art Club for his work “Rendezvous”.

Among his most notable public installations are the Vietnam War Memorial in Westminster, California, the heroic sculpture of Saint Therese in Mobile, Alabama, and the extensive public collection of his works at the Plaza in Orlando, Florida.

Tuan’s latest project is the creation of a Vietnamese Refugee Memorial. Tuan’s works can be found in the permanent collections of the Pasadena Museum of Art and the White House.