Join the SAA for a private visit to the studio of artist Nick Dong, and hear curator Jeff Durham speak on Engineering Awakening: Exploring the Intersections of Art, Technology, and Buddhism in conversation with with the artist.
In 2023, Nick initiated a project titled Auspicious 88, and vowed to complete 88 works by 2028. With a strong background in Tibetan Buddhism, Nick leverages iconography as a starting point and integrates in his artworks painting, metalsmithing, and new media art, and incorporates the effects of light, sound, space and metaphysics to “fabricate” a transcendental experience. His 2024 exhibit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Nick Dong: 11 to 88, featured 11 of these works. Pieces now at his studio and on exhibit in Taiwan will be shipped to Berlin mid-July for an upcoming exhibition. We are invited to see and hear about what‘s in his studio before it’s shipped out. Besides exhibiting internationally and at the Asian Art Museum, in 2012, Dong was one of 40 artists born since 1972 chosen to appear in 40 under 40: Craft Futures at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.
Nick Dong is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice centers on spiritual inquiry and personal transformation. He draws inspiration from both ancient philosophies and contemporary design, and creates immersive installations that invite introspection and emotional resonance. Nick currently lives and works in Oakland, CA, and Taipei, Taiwan.
Jeff Durham is known to SAA members as a highly respected lecturer and scholar, and former Associate Curator of Himalayan Art at the Asian Art Museum. Previously, Jeff was a professor of comparative religion, specializing in Buddhist and Tibetan art, iconography and philosophy.
Nick Dong. Photo courtesy of Nick Dong.
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