The artist, Fr. Martin Nguyen was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States in 1979.  He is a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and joined the department of Art History and Design at the University of Notre Dame in 1995. Nguyen creates large scale works and installations. They are designed to provide a contemplative space for viewers to examine people. He creates work based on past and present memories.

My first impression of viewing Fr. Nguyen’s piece TIME was overwhelming with confusion. Looking at all the faces together created a pattern that confused me but as I looked at them separately, you see all the detail within the faces. My original thought of them was that they were all the same which portrayed a pattern but afterwards I saw them all as individual pieces of art that could stand alone but also be seen as a whole.

Personally, I felt that the artwork was meant to teach people about past memories and remind people about events that have happened in our world. The artwork is like snapshots of past events and memories. Although I know that the portraits were created at different times, they are very similar in a way. The portraits could both stand alone and be considered as a whole which I feel is very impressive and hard to accomplish. All his work was very planned out and uniformed in a way. It showed his audience and me that you can reach the balance between individuality and grouping. I was inspired and impressed with it.

There are many textures, colors and shapes in the piece. Nguyen uses different texture in the hair and skin of the faces. You can see the details he uses by how some have wrinkles and others do not. He also uses different colors to convey a variety of emotions behind the portraits. In his work, he also uses line, form and space. He draws with subtle pencil lines that connect everything together. The spacing was well planned out and you could tell it had a purpose to the piece.

Analysis:

1)I love the balance between individuality but also the similarity between the portraits and how it can be seen as a whole as well.

2)without texture, line, color, and form, the portraits would not read as well and the connection between them would be lost.

3)The organization is executed by the use of a grid like form. It reads as a continuous line.

4)contrast is used by the solid faces that are on the white background. There is an equal amount of emphasis on each face and they are proportional to each other.

Interpretation:

1)This exhibit is about memories that happened in the past to a person.

2)Nguyen is trying to convey the message of originality

3)The purpose is to remember people from Nguyen’s life and his personal memories.

4)It makes me think of my past memories which makes me happy and sad.

5)He is trying to keep the lives of his friends and their memories alive.

6)In my opinion, Nguyen is trying to capture memories and emotions of certain people.

Evaluation:

1)My first impression started off as confusion but then I saw the smaller picture of individuality.

2)Yes, I think it is a successful piece of artwork.

3)Yes, its different from anything I have ever seen

4)Yes, it shows all the little details and how much commitment you need to complete something this amazing. No I could not do better. I am not at that level yet.

5)Yes the space helps with subject matter and design elements.

6)In my opinion, it was very well planned out.

7)Yes I would buy it and use it to decorate my house.

8)I learned how repetition can be used differently

9)I’m inspired by this work and would like to create something close to this level of skill.

10)Yes, it is a very successful piece of art.