About me

I was born in Melbourne, Australia and now live and paint from the NSW South Coast, with my partner and four children; nestled between the escarpment and the sea in Thirroul, after living in Canberra, Scotland, Finland and Sydney.

Drawing and painting has been a core part of my life for the past 20 years (since girlhood!) This culminated in some form in 2015 whilst on maternity leave with my second child and I started to take portrait commissions and opened an Etsy Shop (www.etsy.com/shop/msanhpaints), offering other original artworks and giclee fine art prints. I have no formal Fine Arts education and emotionally, it was a large step for me to do this and share my work. But no regrets! 

Typically I use acrylics on paper or canvas, but I also enjoy oil and watercolour; drawing, of course, with oil stick and soft pastels; monoprints & painting on ceramics.

If you are interested in sharing my artistic journey, please connect with me via Instagram (www.instagram.com/msanhpaints) or my Contacts page. 

CV

Anh Nguyen (b. 1984, Melbourne, Australia). Currently residing NSW South Coast.

Awards and Prizes

2023

Finalist; Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, NSW

2022

Finalist; M16 Drawing Prize, M16 ArtSpace, ACT

Finalist; Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD

Finalist; Rick Amor Self-Portrait Prize, Montsalvat, VIC

Finalist; Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, NSW

2021

Finalist; Grace Cossington Smith Art Award, GCS Gallery, Wahroonga NSW

Finalist; Georges River Art Prize, Hurstville Museum & Gallery, NSW

Finalist; Rick Amor Drawing Award, McClelland Sculpture Park & Gallery, VIC

Finalist; Dobell Drawing Prize #22, National Art School, Sydney NSW

Finalist; A.M.E Bale Art Prize (Acrylic/Oil Painting Category), Glen Eira City Council, VIC

2020

Finalist; Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore NSW

Winner; Lyn McCrea Memorial Drawing Prize, Noosa Regional Gallery, Noosa QLD

Finalist (honourable mention); The Kilgour Prize, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle NSW

Finalist; John Leslie Art Prize, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale VIC

Finalist; The Waverley Art Prize, Waverley Woollahra Art School, Woollahra NSW

Finalist; The Percivals, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville QLD

2019

Finalist; Rick Amor Self-Portrait Prize, The Barn Gallery, Monsalvat, VIC

Finalist; Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Project Contemporary ArtSpace, Wollongong NSW

Finalist (Commended); Hawkesbury Art Prize, Purple Noon Gallery, Freeman’s Reach NSW

Finalist; Kennedy Prize, Royal South Australian Society of Arts Gallery, Adelaide

Finalist; Len Fox Painting Award, Castlemaine Art Museum, Castlemaine VIC

2018

Winner; Basil Sellers Art Prize, Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre, Moruya NSW (awarded in 2019)

2017

Finalist; Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (EMSLA), Project Contemporary Artspace, Wollongong NSW

2016

Finalist, St George Art Awards, Hurstville Museum and Gallery, Hurstville NSW

Finalist, Little Things Art Prize, Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington NSW

Exhibitions 

2022

  • Sep 2022- “Between Brick & Crimson”, solo show Part II, Michael Reid Northern Beaches, NSW (link to catalogue)
  • Sep 2022 – “Low Light” duo with Lucy Roleff, Michael Reid Southern Highlands NSW (link to catalogue)
  • Aug 2022 – “Love Calls Us to the Things of This World”, international group show curated by A Millis, University of Central Missouri Gallery of Art & Design, USA
  • April 2022 – “Between Brick & Crimson”, solo show Part I, Michael Reid Southern Highlands NSW (link to catalogue)
  • February 2022 – “Still Life” group show, Michael Reid Northern Beaches NSW

2021

  • September 2021 – “Magic Stillness”, Distance Gallery, curated by A Millis & L Vahlberg 
  • June 2021 – The Basil Sellers Retrospective, the BAS, Moruya NSW
  • May 2021 – mini release in association with Amber Creswell Bell’s “Still Life” book launch (Thames & Hudson), Michael Reid Northern Beaches, Newport NSW
  • February 2021 – “Glimpses”, mini release, Michael Reid Northern Beaches, Newport NSW

2020

  • August 2020 – “Suburban Daydreams”, online exhibition, Gallery 139, Newcastle, NSW
  • March 2020 – “The Country Interior”, Michael Reid Studio Direct in collaboration with Country Style magazine, Michael Reid Murrurundi, NSW 

2019

  • October 2019 – “Get Your Motif On”, group show with Maureen Nathan (UK) and Nancy Gruskin (USA), curated by Anh Nguyen at Clifton School of Arts, NSW
  • July 2019 – “These Days”, 2 person show with James Needham, Michael Reid Studio Direct (link to catalogue), Michael Reid Sydney 
  • March 2019 – “The Rose is the Look of the Garden” (link to catalogue), group exhibition at Special Group Studios (formerly The Ray Hughes Gallery) in Surrey Hills, NSW – curated by Amber Creswell Bell

2018

  • October 2018 – Scarborough Art Show, Scarborough NSW
  • August 2018 – Group Exhibition, Walcha Gallery, Walcha NSW
  • March 2018 – “This Life Just Once” (link to catalogue); 2 person exhibition alongside Dee Smart at Walcha Gallery, Walcha NSW

2017

  • Nov 2017 -“Christmas Exhibition”; group exhibition at AK Bellinger Gallery, Inverell NSW
  • Oct 2017 – Scarborough Art Show, Scarborough NSW
  • Aug 2017 – “A Certain Slant of Light” (link to catalogue); group exhibition at Saint Cloche Gallery in Paddington NSW – curated by Amber Creswell Bell

2016

  • Oct 2016 – Scarborough Art Show, Scarborough NSW
  • April 2016 – Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival, Thirroul NSW

Other areas of interest

2022 – “Sunday Painter” workshops (March and September) at Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, NSW

2021 – Inclusion in Amber Creswell Bell’s book “Still Life” (Thames & Hudson) (link)

2021 – Inside/Out Magazine and The Design Files emerging artist feature (link)

2018 – Painting & textile collaboration with Ginny & Jude, a Sydney based label, for their 10th year anniversary AW18 collection “Little Girl Blue” (link )

2017 – The Lifestyle Edit – Interview with Kate Swinson 

2016 – Winner, IWD Power Voice Poetry competition for “My Kind” (link)

2011 – “Odes to Oddity”, self-published collaboration of poems & selected drawings