Mai Nguyễn-Long – Country Style 2025

Dharawal/Bulli-based artist Mai Nguyễn-Long joins our Country Style line-up after a succession of significant institutional showings, including the lauded debut of her largest sculptural installation to date, The Vomit Girl Project, commissioned for the 11th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary at QAGOMA.

Born in Tasmania to a Vietnamese father and an Australian mother, the artist grew up in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines before living in Australia, China and Vietnam, and her reckoning with this personal history and intercultural inheritance directly informs her scholarly and artistic practice. The Vomit Girl motif that recurs through her sculptural practice – including the series she has created for Heirlooms – first emerged from feelings of voicelessness specific to the diasporic experience.

Drawing on Vietnamese folkloric aesthetics and stories and reflecting on the messy edges of history, family and cultural identity, her Vomit Girl armies converge in epic assemblages, appearing playful yet resilient as they engage in imaginary conversations.

To preview and acquire works by Mai Nguyễn-Long from Heirloom ahead of the exhibition’s opening at Michael Reid Murrurundi, please email danielsoma@michaelreid.com.au