Born in 1987 in Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thao Nguyen graduated with a BA from Lasalle SIA College of the Arts, Singapore in 2008 and went on to complete a Master in Fine Arts at the Chicago Institute of Art, USA in 2013.

As a multimedia artist who uses painting, installation, video and performance to depict historical and contemporary concepts, Phan Thảo Nguyên has pushed the boundaries of contemporary art in Vietnam. Through literature, philosophy and daily life, she observes ambiguous issues in social convention, history and tradition re-shuffling the systems and symbols of culture and society into her practices which ultimately convey her contemplation on loneliness as a human condition in the modern society.

Notable exhibitions include: ‘Poetic Amnesia’- solo exhibition – The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh city & Nha San Collective, Hanoi – 2017; ‘Vietnam Now: Changing Society’ - The KunstRAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 2014; ‘Context and Constellation’ - Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand – 2014;  ‘The Fifth Wall’ - Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, US - 2013. Nguyen was a 2016-2017 Rolex Protégée; and most recently, she received the Grand Prize of the Signature Art Prize 2018.