Spotlight Artist

Nate Barcot

West
Artist profile photo

But I Sit Cross-Legged

People sitting at a vibrant outdoor market with baskets of fruit.

acrylic on wood panels with 2D relief, diptych

Ăn Canh Khổ Qua Thì Khổ Qua (Bitter Melon Ends Suffering)

Person with closed eyes holding three crying babies, all with green leafy hoods.

acrylic on shaped canvas

Home

Sweater shaped like a person, with illustrated face, hands, and apartment scene on the front.

mixed media, yarn, acrylic, and canvas

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 I am an artist working primarily as a painter, creating large scale art on wood panels, shaped canvases, and textiles. I tend to paint with acrylic and like to work with oil paints, mixed media, textiles, and sculpture. My ideas usually come in dreams. Through the creation of my art, I explore and make discoveries about my relationship to my Vietnamese culture.

I am of mixed race, being a Vietnamese, Honduran, and Croatian second-generation American. Neither appearing particularly Vietnamese, nor speaking the language, I sometimes feel like an outsider or an outcast to the group of people that I identify with most. I create works about my experience of being multiracial, showing that having a connection to your own culture is not always simple.

However, I feel connected to my culture through Vietnamese foods, objects, and traditions, my work a discussion on themes of separation, longing, and celebration. Through exploring what keeps me connected to my culture, I attempt to show multiracial people like myself, those who struggle with their relationship with their culture, that it is beautiful to be mixed.

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