Artist Statement:
Using the techniques of crafts and sculpture, I integrate cast body parts with sensual fabrics to create sculptural life forms. They are my vision of a world where people have transcended the cultures that exist today and are no longer prisoners of their own histories and traditions. The sculptures have cross-cultural identities that integrate various cultural traditions and rituals. To create my life-forms, I select fabrics that are have special cultural significance in Asia and in the West, have reference to their daily wear and usage, and are very soft to our touch. Together I combine them into one harmonious fabric body that cradle their body part. Yet, the bodies still depend on feeding tubes, arteries or tentacles and are trying to survive in our contemporary mono-cultural society. They yearn to reach us and to be understood in this world where we are struggling to define cultural identity: what is especially difficult when the distances between global cultures (heritage, history and tradition) are shrinking. My work speaks of learning from others and unification then of separation, isolation and the specialization of our spheres.

Bio:
Nathalie Pham received her Masters of Fine Arts in sculpture from Parsons School of Design in New York in 2004. She has a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia with an emphasis in sculpture and painting. After the completion of her undergraduate course work, she moved to Boston, MA to work as an apprentice to Dimitri Hadzi.

From the outset, her work has centered on issues surrounding cross-cultural identity that arose from her own life experiences. Born in Germany in 1977 to Vietnamese parents, Nathalie grew up in the small town of Lampertheim Germany where she, her parents, and her sister constituted the only Vietnamese family in town. In 1989 her family moved to Pforzheim, Germany, a conservative city in the south. In response to the rising number of racist assaults against Turkish families as well as other ethnic groups in Germany in this period, she joined the Young Social Democratic Party when she was just 13 years old in order to help educate German High School students about cultural diversity. In 1993, out of concern for the family's safety, her fathermoved their family to Scottsdale Arizona in the United States. It was during her time at the University of Missouri-Columbia when she first encountered an international community of students who shared many of the same cross-cultural concerns. At this point, she became very involved with the university's international community and began working in a number of student organizations to raise awareness and encourage dialogue about different cultures and traditions while simultaneously beginning her studies in art.