Makerspace Director and Wife to have Painting Featured in National Exhibit

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The 6th Louisiana Biennial National Juried Exhibition will feature a painting by Nicholls State University’s Jeremiah Johnson and his wife, Duyen Nguyen.

The exhibition will be on display at the Louisiana Tech University School of Design Gallery from Jan. 25 through Feb. 15.

Titled “The Lotus Boy,” the painting focuses on a southeast Asian depiction of Sudhana from Buddhist folklore perched on a lotus leaf. Duyen looked to a televised depiction of the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West” which she watched as a child growing up for inspiration.


“We like to tell stories with our work,” Johnson says. “We also both love patterns and colors. I personally enjoy paintings that draw the viewer in and hold their attention with many details. I’ve always been attracted to work that tells stories, from the Persian miniature painting of India to the strange and otherworldly visions of Hieronymus Bosch and Peter Bruegel. It’s candy for the eyes.”

Together, Johnson and Nguyen are among the 56 artists chosen out of 633 submissions to have their work on display. Rebecca Hart, who has served as curator and department head at institutions such as the Denver Art Museum and Detroit Institute of Arts, juried the exhibition.

Johnson is the director of The HUB, the Makerspace at Nicholls State University. He and his wife are also collaborative artists and co-owners of The Nguyen Johnson Company.


Johnson’s work is on display in museums all over the world, including the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Taubman Museum of Art in Virginia, and the Servais Family Collection in Belgium. In the Fall, he had a piece selected for display at the Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans.

For more information on The HUB visit nicholls.edu/thehub.