The Vibrancy of Vietnam's Mundane Depicted by Illustrator Chan-Nhu Le

“I miss that. When I was young, on the motorbike with my friends, it was like ’hey, you have 15 minutes?’ and we just met up [...], had some street food and did literally nothing; just street watching. It was fun,” Chan-Nhu Le shared with Saigoneer about the inspiration for her illustrations.

Saigoneer was first drawn to Chan-Nhu Le’s work because of its playful depiction of daily life in Vietnam, but she spoke to us from California, where she emigrated at age 23. The artwork allows her to return to happy moments and memories here, where she was born and raised, as well as share the country’s culture abroad. Meanwhile, the term she used, “fun,” to describe her teenage experiences could certainly apply to her style as a whole, thanks to its employment of vibrant colors, jovial scenes, and lighthearted commotion.

Born and raised in Huế, Chan-Nhu Le has connections with numerous regions in the country: her father is in Hanoi, while she worked for a time in Saigon. Such familiarity with different cities allows her to blend and borrow elements from regional cultures into composites that aim to speak to Vietnam as a whole, particularly when seen by those outside of the nation. Her illustration for Tết, for example, features Bia Saigon, Hanoi and Huda as well as southern fruits and northern flowers.

Chan-Nhu has taken a circuitous route to art, having started a career in social work upon graduation. Motivated by a desire to get to know people and help them, she was quickly disenchanted by bureaucracy and the constant stresses related to securing funding. Recognizing an opportunity, she enrolled in art school in the US, beginning on a photography track. In one of her classes, however, she saw the work of Hong Kong illustrator Victo Ngai. “What kind of art is it?” she remembers wondering. ”It's exactly what I wanted to do, and I switched majors the next day.”

Studying art formally allowed Chan-Nhu Le to focus on her aims and stylistic preferences. “I know exactly what I want to do with illustration, but when I switched to illustration…  I didn't have the skill set to kind of make it happen.” Through study, practice, and by evaluating her past works, she is now better able to create work she describes as “straightforward” and “able to tell a story.”

Citing Julia Rothman, a New York Times illustrator with an expansive portfolio that includes editorial work for the New Yorker and Washington Post, Chan-Nhu aspires to work with a story or conceptual message. And while her illustrations often appear as if they were based on a specific photograph, she says that even though she may use numerous photographs as sources for a composite, the scenes inherently involve memory and imagination. For example, her wedding illustration has many elements Saigoneer readers will recognize: a group of wobbly dancers with drinks and a microphone, a child looking up at a crowd of adults, a couple pouring onto a pyramid of glasses, etc. And yet, if you look closely and recognize how many people are singing at once, you'll realize it's a work of fantasy.

Her large works rely on specific, precise details to contribute to larger moods and feelings, while her works of singular figures or objects invite recognition of the familiar. Many of them also come from memories, such as the sight of a policeman on the back of a Grab Bike, or a fish vendor who had chastised Chan-Nhu for not wearing enough clothing in the harsh sunlight. “Chopping fish and getting mad at me for not wearing enough protection for my skin is hilarious and just so random, but that is so Vietnam — chaotic and so random.”

Since attaining her art degree, Chan-Nhu Le has explored different means of utilizing her skills while meeting the real-world needs of rent and food. To get a sense of what it would be like to work as a full-time illustrator in Vietnam, in 2017, she moved to Saigon and took a position at a publication producing timely cartoons in response to soft news stories. While a good experience, she admitted that it wasn’t a good fit, and she didn’t care enough about the content she was tasked with creating.

While in Saigon, she offered free drawing classes at Vin-Space Art Studio, which encouraged her to pursue a career in education upon returning to the US. Following the cumbersome licensing process to become a public school art teacher in California, she is now in her fourth year at a middle school, where she is tasked with introducing children to a wide array of art styles, mediums, histories, and ideas. While enjoying the job, she noted how physically and emotionally draining it can be. The job leaves her less time and energy to pursue her own artwork.

While in Vietnam, Chan-Nhu Le connected with like-minded Vietnamese creatives, including the folks behind Collective Memory and OH QUAO, which are amongst the shops that sell her work here. Other connections simply contribute to her digital network of support and encouragement that spans borders and languages. She makes regular return visits to Vietnam to visit family, and the trips provide more inspiration for her future projects. Meanwhile, she dreams of having editorial work in a prestigious publication like the New York Times, or gracing a Uniqlo shirt. And in the meantime, her artwork promises to delight those who see it online or in a shop and experience the comforts of recognition and appreciation for the precious moments of doing “literally nothing.”