Kieu Tran

I’m still a bit in disbelief that my first museum exhibition, Personal Archaeology with @kacy_jung , opened last week. As some of you may know, I have been doing ceramics quite seriously as a hobby for about 10 years. What started as a meditative wheel practice where I made functional objects(teapot girly) to cope with the stress of being a fresh, anxious self taught software engineer in a male dominated industry, turned into a way for me to process my emotions in an abstract sculptural language — in a grounding tactile material. When I discovered sculpture and began to understand what very simple forms could communicate more than words could achieve, I was hooked. This January will mark 3 years since I made the decision to quit my job as a software engineer and see if I could be an artist. And it turns out, I can. 🥺 Thank you so much to @lorenzzo.gonz and @thebmoa for your vision, and for including me in this impactful lineup of artists. I truly think this Fall Programming of Asian American artists(@kacy_jung @junyarts @bryanida #chiuraobata ) challenges the often very Western lens of what is considered Asian American art and showcases just how diverse it is and can be. Thank you to my wonderful husband @its_rramon for his unwavering support in all my wild career transitions and for never telling me something is out of reach. Special thanks to my dear collectors, especially those who lent work to the show, and for everyone who has supported me along this journey. I appreciate every comment, conversation and face I see at my shows. You have my deepest gratitude! Thank you so much for believing in me. It means everything. I’m looking forward to gathering my thoughts and sharing more about the work in this show and speak to showing alongside the other incredible artists in this unbelievable context. Kacy Jung and Kieu Tran: Personal Archaeology on view until January 6th @thebmoa

So excited to share this show with you! Thanks to everyone who has already visited! 🥺 Sacred Spaces is now on view @maybaumgallery until the end of March. Don’t miss it! Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 am - 5:30 pm “Movement and connection are at the heart of the new sculptures from Kieu Tran. Rendered in bronze and ceramic in contrasting black and white tones, these three dimensional amorphous shapes successfully reference both the human figure and its spirit. While the abstracted figures are standalone sculptures, when viewed in their respective pairs, a shared visual language emerges. Made in relationship to each other, Tran’s forms speak to the sacred space created between people in relationship to each other, whether in friendship or in love. Referencing the joy of dance and the elemental acts of the body, the works counter the recent social isolation of the pandemic and point to the hope, possibility and generative energy in the essential act of being together. What results is a language of community and togetherness shared in the landscape of these forms, a celebration of sacred space in the brevity of a moment or a lifetime.”

Excited to finally share this special film about what being an artist means to me and upcoming exhibition with you! ✨ Sacred Spaces is a dedication to friendship. This landscape of joyful, dancing forms rendered in ceramic and bronze share the language of community and togetherness. This new work is a celebration of the sacred spaces we create with one another, in friendship, in love, in the brevity of a moment or lifetime. Come see these dancing forms at my upcoming exhibition Sacred Spaces @maybaumgallery March 1-31st. Artist Reception: March 2nd, 5-7pm. It was such a wonderful and eyeopening experience to be able to collaborate with another artist in a new medium. Thanks @danmackart for this opportunity and coming to my studio to record this in the evenings! 🎥🙏🏼

Processing my first Mother’s Day at the end of our first trip with Calder. We boldly took him to Taipei and Tokyo(holy long flights!) for our first family trip and we survived the long travel days with some great new memories, handled blowouts and meltdowns, and feel much more like a family unit overall. We saw our friends, finally dined out with Calder 🤣, visited our favorite Tokyo spots, and discovered new things together. ✨ I’m jet lagged and sleep deprived right now while helping Calder adjust back to the NY timezone. Despite how weird I feel in space right now, as I reflect on our trip and review the photos of me with Calder, I can’t help but feel like a MOTHER. To be honest, I’ve struggled with this new identity as a mother and caretaker. I feel like my own self(especially my creativity) is being compressed and I’m living in the margins of this new identity. I wish I could say I was one of those mothers who absolutely is head over heels with this new life but I’ve been struggling with my loss of self. While motherhood has been a contradiction, this trip has been a much needed confidence builder. We reclaimed some sense of ourselves before we became parents. It was amazing to see how resilient Calder is and to be reassured that I could take care of him and still do the things I want to do. He is such a happy, sleepy little dumpling. I’m emotional seeing so many images of myself holding and comforting Calder in these new experiences for him. This new skin is still tight and uncomfortable as times, but I’m starting to move with more love, ease and intuition through this transformation. Happy Mother’s Day to my fellow mothers. You’re all warriors and now I truly see you. We are doing the invisible labor that helps life move forward. 🥺 I’ll be sharing more photos of the trip in my stories whenever I can find a moment! And I couldn’t be the mother I am without Raymond’s incredible support and patient loving presence. It was so special to see him be a dad. Love you @its_rramon and thank you for my surprise blue box from my boys😘

“I’m not trying to represent how I look with my self-portraits, but how it feels to exist in my body at a particular moment in time.” Featured Artist Kieu Tran makes ceramic sculptures that are, at their core, self-portraits representing how it feels to exist at a particular moment in time. Her elegant, sensuous, biomorphic pieces exist somewhere between the abstract and the figurative. In her work, Kieu strives to give expression to emotion, to allow the aesthetic of the form to hint at the inspiration behind the piece on a wordless, instinctual level. As a first-generation Vietnamese American immigrant woman, she draws from her personal experience of immigration, identity, and belonging. But those emotions, once extracted, surpass the specificity of her history alone, and instead give form to the human soul, reminding us of our shared humanity. Within this framework, clay emerges as her chosen medium—a material that, as the artist puts it, “allows a profound, wordless conversation akin to the soul.” Built hollow through coil, pinch, and slab techniques, each piece bears the fingerprints of the hands that shaped it, deliberately infused with a specific emotional state, then sealed: a physical record of inner life given permanent form. Delving into the depths of her subconscious, Kieu Tran hopes to inspire others to embark on a similar journey of self-discovery, fostering a realization of our shared universal connection. Stay tuned this week as we hear more from Kieu Tran — including how motherhood has reshaped her practice, where her experiments with textile and fiber are leading, and what she’s learned about building a sustainable studio life from the inside out. @studiokieu

I think just like the Spring, I’m starting to come alive again. My son is 7 months. Wanted to share that I recently went out on my own to some art events(for a few days in a row!) and feel more myself again. Additionally, we acquired Calder’s first artwork! And he attended his first artist talk and exhibition. 🥺✨ I was instantly captivated by this piece by @arleenecorreavalencia at her debut NYC exhibition @fridmangallery . The abstracted boy in this liminal space, floating on a tender piece of fabric, evoked a profound sense of both sadness and hopefulness within me. The piece perfectly encapsulates the duality of motherhood and the endless possibility of childhood. To add to its emotional impact, the title Espera / Wait almost brought tears to my eyes because it resonated deeply with me at this moment because I’ve had to pause my studio practice to center nurturing. It served as a poignant message urging me to remain patient and wait for my time to be reborn. So happy and thankful to add this meaningful work to our collection to mark this new chapter in our lives. I’m hoping to continue blooming into this new version of myself and share more with you all soon.

2016 was a GOOD year. I was 27 finally making good money while living in a very charming and cheap 400 sq ft studio with Raymond right by Lake Merritt. Got engaged in Iceland. Stood on a floating boulder in Norway. Ate at NOMA in Copenhagen (and spotted René Redzepi!). Witnessed the sunrise over the Sahara Desert. Road tripped through Morocco while listening to Tycho. Wore dark matte liquid lipsticks(Lime Crime anyone?!) and headwraps. Danced in silly outfits at music festivals. Made my first teapots! Won star of the quarter at my first job as a full time software engineer while setting the tone of culture and fashion. 😂 I’m amazed at how energetic I was a decade ago. So lucky to have had Raymond by my side through all those adventures in 2016. Life is much more slow and grounded these days as new parents taking root in a new city, but the emotions run higher(and lower) than ever. The adventure hasn’t stopped, it just changed. Parenting is a very difficult and rewarding phase of our ongoing adventure but we’re hoping to make amazing memories in 2026.

*holiday sale* The things I’m holding these days are not sculptures. I’m holding a baby and two versions of myself. Boundaries are blurred between past and present and between bodies. The outline of my identity is shifting more than ever before as I say good bye to the version of myself before I became a mother. Sharing a collection of film photos taken by my husband @its_rramon and of me holding my sculptures in some loose order of association that I can manage while nursing my son. In particular, I’m thinking of my Personal Archaeology series(debuted at the Bakersfield Art Museum) which excavated how our identity is constantly reshaped by fluctuating relationships to space, outside forces and people. I’m revisiting its stairs, hidden elements and drapery while sitting with how the edges of my identity are blurry and in flux at the moment. I’m being molded by opposing internal and external forces and wondering when this new version of myself will be reborn. As a way to show my gratitude for all your support over these years and celebrate this immense period of transition, I’m offering 20% off on available biomorphic works in my studio. I rarely offer sales so this is a great time to get the work you’ve been thinking of in time for the holidays. Please get in touch soon if you want guaranteed delivery by Christmas. Link in bio. Discount will be applied in the invoice. As always, thank you for being here through all my stages! I look forward to the day I can share new work again. 🥹🫶

Been thinking about this work a lot. Maybe because I’ve been staring at it every day in my living room as I play with my son. My living room has become my new stage. It’s titled “Hidden Things” which perfectly captures motherhood for me right now. It’s a cloaked abstract figure, reminiscent of a superhero, curtain or security blanket depending on individual interpretation, with a precarious staircase leading into a hidden place. I’ve realized that I never truly saw mothers until I became one. Now I feel like part of a warriors club that is hidden in plain sight. We are policed by what we can acceptably say and complain about by society and especially by other mothers, and the structures around us are not friendly towards parents with babies. This work was originally made to question the performative nature of our identities. Perhaps motherhood is another performance I’m learning. She’s still available if you’re looking for a meaningful holiday gift. DM to inquire or check the link in my bio for available works. 🫶 Hidden Things, 2023 Glazed ceramic 21.25 x 12.5 x 6.5 in

“Rest” is a word I’ve heard thrown around carelessly during this whole period of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. It’s somewhat of an impossible request. Rest remains out of reach most of the time. Something said out of care becomes a taunt. “Are you getting rest? Rest when the baby sleeps. Rest when you can.” Impossibilities. But yet you continue to say it in hopes of manifesting it for yourself and others. I decided to place “Rest” above my nightstand during the end months of my pregnancy in hopes of inspiring and designating a place of rest. She’s a single orchid resting in a nest of leaves, cradling herself from the outside forces. Now in these challenging first months with a baby, it has become a desperate prayer. I don’t always get rest but this daily visual reminder is much less annoying than a verbal one from others 🫩😂. Rest looks different these days. It’s not the ability to sleep or bed rot to your comfort shows, but more like daily forgiveness. It means leaving your dirty dishes and unfolded laundry for tomorrow, not sending that email within 2 business days, and not feeding the algor*thm. It means allowing yourself to exist in your barely functioning state. Rest now means to do less and expect less of yourself. Are you getting enough rest? This sculpture is still available. I’ll live with it until it finds the right home. Let me know if you need more a reminder to rest more in your life! Rest, 2025 paper porcelain, glaze, 22-karat yellow gold luster, cubic ziconia 10 x 6 x 4 in

Hello! There’s quite a few more of you here than the last time I’ve introduced myself so thought I’d take this opportunity to say hello and give a life update. And share some of my favorite portraits with my work over the years! 😍 My name is Kieu(pronounced like Q). I’m a first generation Vietnamese American artist based in Oakland, California. I’m a self taught artist. I have a degree in art history from UCLA, but I learned how to code and became a full-time software engineer for many years. I’ve been doing ceramics consistently since 2015, finally realized it was what I was meant to be doing during the pandemic, and quit my job in tech January 2021 to become a full-time artist. Since quitting, I’ve shown my work, had my first museum exhibition, and have been featured in Interior Design Magazine, Surface Magazine, Sight Unseen, EST Living and Design Anthology Asia. I’m lucky to have cultivated a growing following of enthusiastic collectors worldwide. I want to continue making work that is emotionally and intellectually accessible to a wider audience—that inspires feelings of love, joy, and acceptance. I think it’s possible that these feelings can be transmitted through the tactility of a sculptural object. My dream is to scale up my work and have the soft curves and edges envelop and hug more people. Dreams do come true because I am working on my first public art project in Oakland. Stay tuned! This March I moved from California to NYC while pregnant and have since welcomed a new baby boy into my life. I’m still navigating this new phase of my life and figuring out how motherhood will shape my artistic practice going forward but I have no intention of stopping. I’ve had to slow down for the time being but I’m hopeful bigger things are on the horizon once I’m ready. In the meantime, new ideas are still percolating in between infant cries and dirty diapers and I’m still manifesting. Emails are still being answered so get in touch! 🥰 If you’ve read this far, you’re a real one!! If you’re a parent(bonus if you’re also an artist) please send me any tips and words of encouragement for this period of transition into motherhood!

My first marble sculptures installed in their home in Dallas, TX. 🥹 Sharing photos of them in their new home, installation and some process shots of their creation! The meditation on love, joy and connection that characterizes my work is further reflected in ‘Encaptured.’ 2 years ago, I combined 3D scans of two sculptures previously realized in clay and altered them digitally to create a new dialogue between the forms. They intentionally intersect. The sculptures were rough milled by robots at @garfagnanainnovazione before I arrived in Italy to hand sculpt and finish the work in less than a month! The robotic assistance facilitated by my @digitalstoneproject allowed me to pursue a larger, more complex project in marble. The result of the two forms displayed apart, with the imprint of one on the other, creates a tension and sense of longing that is inspired by the inexplicable gravitational pull we have to others, friendly and romantic. The two forms yearn to be connected and consumed with one another. So happy I didn’t have to split this pair up. I’m obsessed with how beautiful they look at the entrance of this home. I’m always astonished and ever grateful when my work finds the right collector. 😭💕