INTERVIEW:

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Huyen Nguyen Interview Transcript

 

Patrick: Who are you and what is your art-style?

 

Huyen: My name is Huyen Nguyen and my art-style is mostly paintings, illustrations and print-making.

 

Patrick: When did you start doing art?

 

Huyen: Probably started taking it seriously in year 11 and 12, ever since then.

 

Patrick: How did you get involved into the art community?

 

Huyen: I think I’m only starting to get more involved in the community now. Just trying to get into little exhibitions that are local or through the university itself that’s doing exhibitions right now.

 

Patrick: Have you or do you have any formal arts training?

 

Huyen: Yeah so now I’m doing the advanced diploma of visual arts at RMIT. This is the second year so I did the diploma last year, and that’s all the training I’ve had so far.

 

Patrick: How important is art to you?

 

Huyen: Art is pretty damn important to me, because it’s pretty much all I do nowadays.

 

Patrick: How important do you think art is for society in Melbourne?

 

Huyen: I think art is very important to our society. I think it has the ability to change the way we think.

 

Patrick: How long do you spend on your art each week approximately?

 

Huyen: Each week I approximately spend probably every day. I’ll be here from like 9 to 5 everyday, even on my day off, and then I’ll go do some more.

 

Patrick: Are your friends and family supportive of your art ventures?

 

Huyen: Yeah, thankfully. Now they are, they didn’t used to be, when I was shit. But now they support me so that’s good.

 

Patrick: Do you need a job to help supplement your art?

 

Huyen: Yep. Art is a super expensive career path right now. Like spending money on paper is insanely expensive so I’ve got 2 to 3 jobs at the moment but in the future I hope that art is just my career and job at the same time.

 

Patrick: How do you get an audience to your work?

 

Huyen: I think Instagram is the main thing at the moment but I’m not too stressed about my audience, because I just want to get a lot better before I start saying “Hey guys! Look at my work!”

 

Patrick: Do you have any art career aspirations, in maybe the 5 to 10 year range?

 

Huyen: In 5 to 10 years I hope that after this I want to go into animation, which will be another 3 year course, and then hopefully after that I’ll be in America somewhere, working in some animation place.

 

Patrick: Do you have any advice for new students or other people who want to get into the art scene?

 

Huyen: My advice for people who want to get into the art scene is to just work really really hard. Just keep going, no matter what. Just do your own thing, and you’ll get there eventually.

 

Interviewed and writtten by Patrick Lunney (2016)

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