For many years Christian Nguyen has been making large drawings on unstretched canvas that explore the relationship between man-made spaces and natural forms. The works in his Place of Origin series have a utopian quality inspired by monumental structures from antiquity, mythology, and fiction. The architectural spaces featuring seemingly endless platforms, stairs, and entrances are often carved out of anonymous landscapes. Within the clearly defined space of the Glyndor sunroom he has created a dimensionally engaging installation. Working during the week prior to the exhibition opening, he drew directly on the wall for the first time, intersecting one architectural form with another. A group of floating landscape forms that appear to be fragments sliced from the hillside rest on utilitarian wooden structures. These function within the room like furniture, shifting the scale between the interior and the slope beyond the window. In total, Poliorcopolis underscores the garden as a man-made construction and emphasizes the imposition of the house on this terrain.

Christian Nguyen has exhibited drawings, sculpture, and installations in a wide range of venues, including Belkin Satellite Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia; PH Gallery, New York, NY; and Momenta Art, NGC 224, and Slate Gallery, all in Brooklyn, NY. He received an Emerging Artist Fellowship grant from Socrates Sculpture Park, as well as grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Puffin Foundation. He has had studio residencies in New York, NY, with the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and the World Views Studio Residency sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. He earned his BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and his MFA from Hunter College, both in New York, NY. He will be leading a family art project at Wave Hill on July 5 and 6. For more information visit www.christiannguyen.net