ARTIST STATEMENT
I am Vi Khi Nao. I am a queer interdisciplinary Vietnamese-American artist born in Long Khánh, Vietnam in 1979. My work navigates prose, cinematic exposition, spatial installations, + tactile visual art, often engaging with ekphrastic meditation, literary memoir, + absurdist drawing. The realm of my artistic appetite spills into absurdist inked delineations, challenging the conventions of gendered + ethnic discourse within the collage narrative. I am also a poet w/ a strong prose practice (fiction+nonfiction) + frequently incorporate audiovisual + performative elements in my collaborative works. My work engages w/ issues of inter-aesthetic signification—the translation of ideas between modes (from painting to poetry; from moving image to language; between languages)—+elliptical excavations of trauma. My work is celebrated for its fearless formal experimentation, lyrical intensity, + emotional precision, often navigating the landscapes of displacement, intimacy, + the human body.
(SELECTED) SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Within Ten Seconds: Inspiration4, Kennedy Space Center, Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953
2021 Orpheus Is A Verb: Inspiration4, Kennedy Space Center, Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953
2013 Brown University: McCormack Family Theater, 70 Brown Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
2013 Teacup Paintings & Drawings, Perry & Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence
2011 Red Nudes, Mills Gallery, 812 University St, Pella, IA 50219, USA
(SELECTED) GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Yellow Echoes [SWHNM], Novilla, Hasselwerderstraße 22, 12439 Berlin, Germany
2025 Iowa Artist Fellows, Mainframe Studios, 900 Keosauqua Way, Des Moines, IA 50309, USA
2024 Body is a Form, Dodge Street Gallery, 522 S Dodge St, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA
2024 A Mouth Holds Many Things [De-canon], Stelo Arts, 412 NW 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 USA
2024 Would That [SWHNM], George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Art Gallery, 1575 S State Street, Salt Lake City,UT 84115
2022 Care in Ruins, Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) Conference, 700 14th St, Denver, CO 80202, USA
2022 Freakophone World, Exhibition Space, New Art City, Virtual
2021 Soundwalk, Black Mountain Radio, The Believer, KWNK 97.7 FM and KUNV 91.5 FM. Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
2019 Speed 2: Sheep Machine, Malmö Konsthall, S:t Johannesgatan 7, 205 80 Malmö, Sweden
2019 Food, Memory, Mythology, Black Mountain Institute, 2851 E Bonanza Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
2019 One Day I'll Have Vietnam Again, Black Mountain Institute, East LV Library, 2851 E Bonanza Rd, Las Vegas
2019 Collective Poetry Performance, Reed College: Eliot Hall Chapel, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR 97202
2018 Tender Table w/ She Who Has No Master(s), San Jose Museum of Art, 110 S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113
2014 Breath, Brown University: Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, 50 John Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
2014 The Plastic Tent, Duke University, The Shed, 807 E Main St, Ste 130, Durham, NC 27701, USA
2013 Ohio, 26th Mix New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY
2013 Taxidermy Project, Perry & Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence, RI 02906
2013 In the Diurnal Bath, Brown University: McCormack Family Theater, 70 Brown Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
2013 The Pancreatic One-Night Stand, Brown University: McCormack Family Theater, 70 Brown Street, Providence
2013 Freshly Squeezed, Perry & Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence, RI 02906
2013 Liquid Mucus, Perry & Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence, RI 02906, USA
2013 Boot Milk Aquarium, Brown University, Perry & Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI, USA
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RESIDENCIES/FELLOWSHIPS
2025 Casa Ecco Residency, Hawthornden Foundation, Lake Como, Italy
2025 Iowa Artist Fellowship, Des Moines, IA, 50010, USA
2024 Studios at Mass Moca Fellow, Mass MOCA, North Adams, MA, USA
2023 Gold Future Challenge Finalist, Asian American Future & Gold House, USA
2022 SWHNM Mentorship Program & Collaborative Residency, Vietnam Society, Baltimore, MD, USA
2022 CHQ Writers In Residence, Chautauqua, NY, USA
2019 The Shearing Fellowship at Black Mountain Institute & The Believer For Distinguished Writers, Las Vegas
2019 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA, USA
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IMAGE-TEXT PUBLICATIONS
2023 “Fish People Series” Noon Literary Annual. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2022 "Patriarchy." Honey Literary. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2021 “Teacup Series.” Noon Literary Annual. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2021 “Would That.” Hush Lit. Paper and photograph collage, 8 in X 8 in.
2021 “Would That.” Poetry Foundation. Paper and photograph collage, 1 in X 1 in.
2020 "Teaset Image #63." Lumina Journal. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Teaset Image #67." Lumina Journal. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Jackfruit In Black." Selfuck. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Dyke Cabbage." Diacritics. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Toilet Brush Cleaner." Oyez Review. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Mind & Heart Baseball." Oyez Review. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Heart Scissors." Oyez Review. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8 In X 11in.
2020 "Lesbian Fish Scissors." Oyez Review. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Fish Scissor." Makhzin. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Blueberry & Ms. Sapodilla." Baest. Pilot pen on drawing Paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Jackfruit & Ms. Rambutan." Baest. Pilot pen on drawing Paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Pomegranate & Ms. Pineapples." Baest. Pilot pen on drawing Paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Carrot & Ms. Raspberry." Baest. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8in X 11in.
2020 "Ms. Strawberry & Ms. Kiwano." Baest. Pilot pen on drawing paper, 8in X 11in.
​2016 “Leaning Nude.” The Adirondack Review. India ink on handmade Kochi paper, 8in X 11in.
2016 “Faceless Nude.” The Adirondack Review. India ink on handmade Kochi paper, 8in X 11in.
2016 “Three Red Nudes.” The Adirondack Review. India ink on handmade Kochi paper, 11in X 11in.
2016 “Uyen & Red Square.” The Adirondack Review. Lithography on Kochi paper, 22 X 18 in .
2015 “Kissing Kettles.” Smokelong Quarterly. Acrylics on handmade paper, 11in X 11in.
2015 “Tea Bath.” Hobart Literary Journal. Acrylics on handmade paper, 11in X 11in.
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