About
Artist Bio
Nick Phan is a Vietnamese American printmaker who was born in Kansas City Missouri in 1995. His artwork has been nationally and internationally exhibited. Nick received his undergraduate degree from Truman State University in 2018 and his masters degree from Northern Illinois University in 2022. He has taught at universities in Illinois and Missouri, and is currently an instructor of printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Nick primarily works with relief prints and book arts, and finds ways to incorporate the two together. Nick uses his artwork as a means to enhance his life and connect him better to the people around him. His work is a vehicle of self-expression taken physical form and often shared to friends far away. Often portraying images that represent scenes from his daily life, he finds beauty in the mundane and elevates his life into something worthy of paying attention to.
Artist Statement
My work explores the ideas of identity and connection - different facets of my life, specific events, thoughts I have in my head, or even objects in my space that I see on a daily basis. I make work about what I had for lunch, how my week is going, or even objects I find interesting. My work also explores personal connections and narratives through interactions with my peers and my environment. I mail prints because it widens my audience and invites collaboration. Seeking everyday moments that are universal experiences. I use the multiplicity of print to narrate the repetitions of my surroundings. The prints accumulate into a diary that, when viewed as a whole, displays my year played out like a timeline. These prints also work as an introspective into my mind and personality. I find it a more comfortable means of expression to express my thoughts and ideas through visual art rather than through words.
Often-times I mail prints as postcards to people to update them on my life. The combination of the ritual of mailing becomes a means for me to escape the coldness I use the combination of art and mail to resemble intimacy letters can hold. It is my hope that whoever sees my art is able to get a glimpse into my life and feel like they know me better than before.
