Bio

Born in 1992, Christian Dinh is a Vietnamese-American ceramic artist from St. Petersburg, Florida. He received his B.A. in 2016 from the University of West Florida in Pensacola. While studying at UWF, Dinh was nominated for the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Relocating to New Orleans in 2018, Dinh received his M.F.A. at Tulane University. During his time at Tulane, Dinh’s work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, Ceramic Monthly, The Times Picayune, and Adore Magazine. Dinh’s ceramic and sculptural work has been in numerous exhibitions, including PHILIC / PHOBIC at the Pensacola Museum of Art, Focus Spotlight: Nail Salon at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, Knowing Who We Are: The Contemporary Dialogue at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Legacy Traces: Recent Additions to the Museum Collection at the Newcomb Art Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, Blue Norther Exhibition at the Silos at Sawyer Yards in Houston, Texas, GBA House Party Vol. 1 at 3.1 Phillip Lim in New York, NY, and Here’s What I Was Thinking at Sibyl Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2023, Dinh was a recipient of the Take Notice Fund from the National Performance Network, a grant awarded to BIPOC artists living and working in Louisiana. In the Fall of 2024, Dinh will be a featured artist in the New Orleans triennial, Prospect.6: the future is present, the harbinger is home.

Statement

My work centers on the Vietnamese culture that developed in the United States subsequent to the Vietnam War and my experience as a second-generation Vietnamese-American citizen. My desire is to give the deserved recognition to this community and to show that their struggles, perseverance, and success have not gone unnoticed. Aspects of this culture are slowly changing through the passing of time. Certain nuances that I may have witnessed may not be remembered by the next generation. When turning to the limited documentation of Vietnamese-American culture, you will find that most narratives center around the Vietnam War from an American perspective. Though the Vietnam War is a significant marker in history, the trajectory of the Vietnamese refugees and immigrants is not limited to this focus. Having had the privilege of being raised in Vietnamese-American culture, I find the importance of telling this narrative that is seldom told. The overarching theme of my work is the act of remembrance. That being the remembrance of objects, places, practices, traditions, and people, within Vietnamese-American culture. With this body of work, I aim to contribute to a working archive of what defines the Vietnamese-American aesthetic.