Joyriding

Rooted in their experience of transitioning into full-time industrial finishing work upon art school graduation, Nguyen’s work breathes levity into the rat-race of industrialized labor.

Reflecting on their experience in the relentless, often disillusioning pursuit of success and the American Dream, Hien Kat Nguyen’s Joyriding presents a gamified art practice where humor serves as a coping mechanism for systemic inequality. Interactive sculptures designed after familiar retro toys entice viewers to participate, yet each gameplay and puzzle component is intentionally rigged—nearly impossible to win.

Drawing upon blue collar work culture and their interest in ancient Vietnamese artifacts and folklore, Nguyen renders anthropomorphized creatures like legged fish, cockroaches, and chameleons. These nameless characters embody the bizarre nature of adaptability and cultural assimilation, raising the question, survival at what cost? The exhibition consists of freestanding and wall hung sculptures, in which Nguyen deploys both factory manufacturing and hand-based processes such as powder coating, woodworking, metalworking, and hand-sewing.  

Nguyen’s work upends dichotomous thinking with whimsical satire, exploring the space between failure and success—WIN OR LOSE. 

Artist

Hien Kat Nguyen (b. 1999; Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam) is a sculptor and an industrial finisher based in Richmond, Virginia. Nguyen received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2022.