Thanh Thanh Nguyen

Thanh Thanh Nguyen | The forest lether bloom | 2025

You started your career as an electrical engineer. What led you to begin exploring sculptural painting?

I started my career as an electrical engineer, which gave me a strong foundation in problem-solving and technical analysis. Over time, as I transitioned into data analysis and strategic roles, I realized I wanted a creative outlet that balanced my analytical side.

My first hands-on creative experience was making floral cupcakes with buttercream, but I wanted to create something more lasting. That curiosity led me to explore sculptural painting with acrylics. The process of carefully shaping each petal and designing modular pieces lets me apply the same precision and thoughtful design I use in my professional work, but in a more tactile and expressive way.

This blend of technical skill and creativity drew me deeply into sculptural floral art, and it’s become a meaningful way to connect with both sides of myself. Over time, this evolved into my Magnetique Petals concept: merging artistic expression with innovation and modular design. It’s still problem-solving, just with flowers instead of circuits.

Thanh Thanh Nguyen | Blush and fire | 2025

What does the creative process look like when you’re building one of your Magnetique Petals pieces?

When I create a Magnetique Petals piece, the process begins with inspiration: often drawn from nature, emotions, or a particular memory I want to express. I start by sketching a rough composition, focusing on how the petals and blooms will interact on the magnetic canvas. This initial layout helps me plan which elements will be fixed and which will be interchangeable.

Next, I hand-sculpt each petal using acrylic, carefully building layers to mimic the natural texture, curves, and veins of real flowers. Once the petals cure, I apply carefully chosen colors and finishes that enhance their natural texture and form, adding depth and dimension to bring out their lifelike qualities. Embedded magnets make each petal detachable, allowing for endless rearrangement and interaction.

The final step is assembling the piece on the magnetic canvas, where I balance form, color harmony, and tactile experience. I offer a variety of premade backgrounds and sets of flowers that collectors can mix and match to create a personalized arrangement. The goal is to make the art visually captivating while inviting ongoing interaction, turning it into a collaborative and evolving experience.

Thanh Thanh Nguyen | Kissed by the sky | 2025

How did the idea of embedding magnets into your floral sculptures come about?

The idea really came from wanting art to be more interactive and adaptable. I loved creating sculptural flowers, but once a piece was finished, it felt very static; you could admire it, but you couldn’t change it.

One day, I was rearranging flowers in a vase and thought, Why can’t wall art work the same way? That’s when the idea clicked: if I embedded small magnets into each petal or bloom, they could attach to a magnetic canvas and be rearranged endlessly.

It combined my engineering mindset: problem-solving and modular design  with my artistic vision for something beautiful yet functional. Now each piece isn’t just art you look at, but art you can play with and make your own.

What role does interaction play in your artwork? Do you view the viewer as a co-creator?

Interaction is at the heart of my work. With Magnetique Petals, the artwork isn’t meant to be a fixed composition. It’s designed to change hands, moods, and seasons. By allowing petals and blooms to be rearranged, the viewer steps into the role of co-creator.

I see it as a collaboration: I provide the structure, textures, and colors, and the person interacting with the piece brings their own creativity and story to it. The result is something deeply personal, because no two arrangements are ever exactly the same.

In that way, my art becomes less of a one-time statement and more of an ongoing dialogue between the creator and the collector.

Thanh Thanh Nguyen | Quiet crimson | 2025

How do you choose your color palettes? Are they inspired by emotions, memories, or nature?

I’d say my color palettes are a mix of all three: emotions, memories, and nature, but nature is often the starting point. I pay close attention to how certain flowers naturally pair colors, from the soft blush-to-cream gradients of a peony to the bold contrasts in a zinnia.

From there, I layer in personal meaning. Some palettes are tied to memories like the dusty pinks and golds that remind me of sunsets in my hometown while others are guided by the mood I want the piece to evoke, whether that’s calm, joy, or nostalgia.

It’s a bit like composing music in color;  I’m always aiming for harmony, but I’m not afraid of adding one unexpected “note” to make the whole composition feel alive.

Do you approach flowers more as symbols or as aesthetic forms? What do they represent to you?

For me, flowers are both aesthetic forms and symbols. I’m drawn to their shapes, textures, and the challenge of sculpting something so delicate in a lasting medium.

But they also carry deep meaning — and each flower has its own story. A zinnia speaks to lasting friendship, a peony to prosperity, a daisy to innocence. And then there’s the blue rose — a bloom that doesn’t exist in nature — symbolizing the unattainable, the mysterious, and the dream you’re still chasing.

More than just shapes and colors, flowers are vessels for emotions and memories. By sculpting them in acrylic, I’m capturing not just their beauty but the heartbeat of the moments and feelings they represent, allowing them to live on, be touched, reimagined, and cherished anew over time.

Thanh Thanh Nguyen | Quiet crimson | 2025

Can you share a story behind one specific artwork that feels particularly meaningful to you?

These two pieces began as separate explorations, each reflecting a distinct chapter of my life, and I hadn’t planned for them to be viewed together. But when I finally placed them side by side, I discovered a powerful conversation unfolding between them.

The Secrets She Keeps is a celebration of childhood summers: those endless days filled with vibrant energy and raw emotion. The flowers burst with bright, lively colors, and their petals carry a rough texture that speaks to the unfiltered, untamed spirit of youth. This piece captures the joy, curiosity, and sometimes the secrets we hold close during those formative years.

In contrast, Quiet Crimson embodies the weight and complexity of adulthood. The deep crimson backdrop reflects the burdens, challenges, and responsibilities that come with growing up. The flowers in this piece are softer and more uniform in color, with petals that flow gracefully, symbolizing the way we learn to adapt, blend in, and navigate the world with more subtlety. Yet, amid this maturity, flashes of my youthful self persist : the bright yellow flowers and wild leaves serve as reminders that even as adults, fragments of our inner child remain vibrant and wild beneath the surface.

Together, these pieces create a visual narrative of growth, resilience, and the bittersweet dance between holding on and letting go. They invite viewers to reflect on their own journeys: the memories that shape us, the changes we endure, and the enduring spirit that connects our past and present.