Perseverance Through Darkness

Michelle Nguyen

I started drawing two years ago after I lost my father and some other difficult circumstances. It was a really dark time for me and I was facing a rollercoaster of emotions. I turned to art for peace. I was able to find my voice through my work. My portraits are a self-reflection of who I am and the strength and courage I had to learn during those times to persevere. My trials and tribulations did not break me but made me forever grateful to have found such joy from creating portraits. Now I create work to help bring awareness to the problems we face in the world. My goal one day is to create an art book with a collection of different human beings from around the world who are willing to share their personal stories of their painful challenges. I want to capture their essence in my drawings in hopes of creating change. As Victor Pinchuk once said, “Art, Freedom, and Creativity will change society faster than politics.”