Biography

The airbrush and acrylic paintings of Phuong T. Pham combine fact and fantasy to portray surrealistic visions of a fathomable outer realm. Rich colors and strange but recognizable forms allude to solvable mysteries. Relating to the strangeness of outer space has helped him to adjust to a new country and learn to appreciate two diverse cultures.

The artist was born in Vietnam in 1973. His family fled Vietnam in 1977, and lived in a refugee camp until 1979, and then moved to the United States. Phuong has been living in Colorado and attending school ever since.

Always inspired by art, he discovered the airbrush in middle school. Determined to become an excellent artist despite a perceived lack of support from the Asian-American community for such a career, Phuong attended the Rocky Mountain College of Arts and Design before transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder to study for a degree in fine art. He initiated his career as an artist as a student assistant at the Fiske Planetarium, where he has been able to pursue his interest in representing the mysteries of space and the universe.