A woman in bright, luxurious clothing serves an enigmatic, Mona Lisa stare from Linh Nguyen’s canvas.
She’s striking. But Nguyen said some Vietnamese viewers may question why she’s featured in an exhibit called Đẹp, which means “beauty.”
With her darker complexion, “lower-bridged nose” and “monolids” — eyelids without a crease — she challenges Vietnamese beauty norms with long historical roots.
Darker skin in Vietnam has historically been associated with working outside in a field, and lighter skin with higher social status.
The beauty standard became even more unattainable when Westerners arrived in Vietnam.
“We see foreigner and people become more envious,” Nguyen said. “You want to have the double eyelid, the skinnier nose, the even lighter skin complexion.”
Like many Vietnamese people, Nguyen doesn’t have those features.
She grew up in Vietnam being pitied for her tan skin, she said, painfully conscious of the darker patches on her elbows and knees.
“I’ve always felt like I can’t win,” she said “No matter what I do, you know, it is not going to be enough.”
So she’s challenging the standards with her paintbrush, reimagining the history that created them.
In this series of portraits, she poses women outside those norms like royalty.
It will be unveiled Monday, May 13 at 6 p.m. at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park.
The free event will also include food and a community conversation.
Organizer Britt Pham said she hopes the exhibit brings freedom.
“We want to redefine beauty as self-acceptance,” she said. “Not needing to buy into any sort of story that’s placed upon us.”
