May Nguyen
Giấc Mơ Trưa / The Afternoon Dream, 2025
Mixed media installation
Courtesy of the artist

This work is on loan for the exhibition, Living Here, at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, June 20 - December 20, 2025

“Inspired by my childhood in Vietnam, each box contains an everyday object—simple, often overlooked—now transformed into a keepsake of once-vivid moments that are slowly fading,” writes May Nguyen. The objects she has chosen vividly evoke different senses—the sight of a colored petal, the flavors of home, the touch of a caregiver. “As life continues in a foreign land, these memories blur around the edges, like photographs left too long in the sun, leaving behind only fragments of a home that now exists more in feeling than in form.”

She explains the three types of object like this—

Stools:
“This small, red plastic stool is more than just a seat—it's a symbol of everyday life in Vietnam. The more beat-up the stool, the better the food that's served beside it. You'd find these stools clustered around street food stalls, holding bowls of steaming phở or fragrant bún thịt nướng, or tucked in a shady corner where two aunties trade gossip over a cup of ca phe sua da. Worn and scratched from years of use, it holds the comfort of familiarity.”

Flowers:
“In Vietnam, we call bougainvillaea hoa giấy—’paper flower’—for its delicate but vivid petals. At my childhood home, it draped over the front gate, a canopy of color watching over endless summer days. It's embossed in my memory as a quiet witness to many family meals and childhood daydreams. In Las Vegas, bougainvillaea is rare, but when I see one, those fading memories rush back, bright for a moment like those petals in the sun.”

Fans:
“This paper hand fan holds the quiet memories of childhood nights in Vietnam. During power outages on hot, sticky evenings, my grandma would sit beside me and my sister, slowly fanning us until we fell asleep. In her hands, the fan became a lullaby, a breeze that soothed both our body and soul. Each fold carries the memory of my grandma's care, comfort, and her love that still lingers with us, soft as wind.”