Nail Salon

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Image of artwork courtesy of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

"French Tip" By Christain Dinh

New Orleans ceramic artist Christain Dinh channels his experience as a first generation Vietnamese American in for works in this exhibition at the Ogden Museum, which confronts racism, stereotypes, and underrepresentation while celebrating the many ways Vietnamese Americans contribute to the United States. Dinh includes decorated porcelain casts of hands that are used to depict services in nail salons, providing commentary on how many of the immigrants working in nail salons for whom English isn't their first language use such casts as a means of communicating services provided. “Vietnamese nail salons are often stigmatized, due to the association with lower-class minority work,” Dinh told the curators at the Ogden. “However, I believe the Vietnamese nail salon to be one of the great success stories of the Vietnamese-American community.” In utilizing nail salon imagery, Dinh creates a pop aesthetic inspired by modern Vietnamese American culture. ogdenmuseum.org.