About Our Art
Linda Mabalot as…by artist and designer Vivian Nguyen
(Image courtesy of Visual Communications)
This piece represents the four sides of Linda Mabalot: as a leader, as an artist, as a person, and as a youth. Linda was the former Executive Director of Visual Communications and was an important figure in the history of Visual Communications. Linda’s story and influence and impact were and still are incredibly inspiring to the AANHPI community.
My artwork for “Linda as an Artist” depicts Linda at the protest to freeze the Marcos family assets. She conducted audio interviews with different people to get their perspectives – such as Actor Muni Zano.
“Linda as a Leader” is my drawing of Linda speaking at an event at the Japan America theater. Her image at the podium sparks inspiration to the community. Although these two pictures display Linda’s professionalism when it came to her work, Linda was also a bright person.
“Linda as a Youth” communicates to the audience her bright joy as an ambitious filmmaker and activist. I wanted to accurately portray her radiant smile.
Lastly, “Linda as a Person” is my favorite drawing. Linda is pictured at her home at Coronado Estates gorging on chicken wings for a Thanksgiving dinner. Her silly pose and smile, while she’s having fun, shows that she is also a person like everyone else.
As for the design, I chose a scrapbook and polaroid style. I wanted to replicate the feeling of reminiscing about Linda’s most important moments through the scrapbook. As for the color palette, the primary colors are green and orange. I chose these colors because they are complimentary. Green represents to new beginnings, as Linda endlessly supported young, up and coming Asian American filmmakers at the beginning of their careers. Orange represents Linda’s constant energy, especially as shown in the artwork.
About the artist:
Vivian Nguyen is an artist and graphic designer currently residing in Los Angeles. She was raised in Anaheim and Riverside, California. Ever since childhood, she’s had a passion for the arts. However, as she grew up in a low-income family, it was difficult to continue pursuing her passion for drawing when her family did not approve of the creative field. However, she didn’t give up on her dream.
Currently, she is a senior at UCLA studying Design | Media Arts, a selective program for aspiring new media artists and designers. She has gravitated towards UX and visual design as her career path, but dabbles in art and drawing in her free time.
Throughout college, she has worked with nonprofits and in tech as a designer. She has interned as a designer at Apple and Honda in 2021 and 2022. She was heavily active in her club, LA Blueprint, and served as the Vice President of Design during her third year. She has personally collaborated with the nonprofits: the Program for Torture Victims, Farm2People, and the Autism Society of Los Angeles. She was also active as a designer for the Vietnamese Student Union.
Vivian Nguyen on Instagram: @viv.artist
