Multidisciplinary artist Tammy Nguyen is known internationally for her paintings, prints, and unique artist books. She also publishes work through her own imprint, Passenger Pigeon Press. In her richly layered and captivating artworks, Nguyen brings together global histories, literary traditions, and evolving visual traditions. Her compositions are filled with figures, plants, animals, and enigmatic symbols, inviting viewers into a world where cultural and historical narratives come to life in complex and unexpected ways.

For the sixteenth Contemporary Project in the museum’s series showcasing innovative work by contemporary artists, multidisciplinary artist Tammy Nguyen is creating brand-new work, including paintings, prints, and a handmade artist book. Drawing on literary references, Cold War–era science, and intricate ecological imagery, her richly layered compositions interweave figures, flora, fauna, and symbolic forms to explore how ambition, belief, and invention intersect, and how the drive to transcend human limits can slip into instability.

Alongside her own work, Nguyen is selecting objects from the Blanton’s collection to display in adjacent galleries. Spanning 18th-century engravings to mid-20th-century photography, these objects highlight connections across time and medium, revealing how artists have grappled with questions of power, progress, and the natural world in distinct yet resonant ways.

(Organized by Hannah Klemm, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art)