Self-portrait study of Alfred Steigletz’s “Sun Rays — Paula Berlin” (1889).
About the Artist
Alyvia Luong (b. 2003 Fort Wayne, IN) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, IL. In her art practice, she bridges installation/sculpture, lens-based media, textiles, and art-&-tech. These mediums in combination have evolved into a specialized “vocabulary” to investigate the complexities of the Southeast Asian Diaspora and Vietnamese-American identity.
As an overarching theme, she utilizes the visual arts as a form of dissection and protest. Though her initial roots are in photography, she eventually reached a plateau in her practice. Photographs, as a two-dimensional format, lacked the physical bandwidth to fully encapsulate her research. Resultantly, she now works within a different framework: how can fragmented histories come together to complete an image? What remains forgotten, out-of-frame in the visual archives of Vietnam (pre-, during, and post-war)?
Through transformed archival media and contemporary translations of tradition, Luong aims to retrace cultural inheritances, examine generational disconnect, and uncover the repercussions of homeland severance. Simultaneously, she is also investigating how human connection/interaction through art facilitates necessary, critical dialogue in our present day. Luong considers these (re)examinations paramount in how such histories are both recorded and remembered in American press and media, paralleled with what was decidedly left behind.
Group Exhibitions
2025, (TBA), Rotterdam, NL
2025, (TBA), MacLean Center, Chicago, IL, USA
2022, ARTBASH, LeRoy Neiman Center Galleries, Chicago, IL, USA
2021, Scholastic Art & Writing National Awards, Bronx Documentation Center Annex, Bronx, NY, USA
2021, Scholastic Art & Writing National Awards, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, USA
2021, Scholastic Art & Writing Regional Awards, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2021, High School Student Show, Garrett Museum of Art, Garrett, IN, USA
2021, National YoungArts Week + 2021 Exhibition, Online, USA
2021, USF Creative Arts 45th Annual High School Art Exhibition, Mimi & Ian Rolland Art Center, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2020, Scholastic Art & Writing Regional Awards, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2020, Comfort Zone Art Show, 114 W. Washington Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2020, USF Creative Arts 44th Annual High School Art Exhibition, Mimi & Ian Rolland Art Center, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Selected Accolades
2022, Buannano Contemporary Practices Scholarship Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2021, Presidential Merit Scholarship Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2021, Competitive Excellence Scholarship Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2021, Semifinalist for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, U.S. Presidential Scholars Program
2021, 1st Place National Gold in Photography, YoungArts Foundation
2021, Social Justice Advocacy Award, FWMOA + Downtown Fort Wayne + Art This Way
2021, American Visions Award Nominee, Scholastic Art & Writing
2021, National Gold Medal Art Portfolio, Scholastic Art & Writing
2021, National Silver Medal Art Portfolio, Scholastic Art & Writing
2021, Outstanding Achievement in Photography Award, University of Saint Francis
2020, Outstanding Achievement in Photography Award, University of Saint Francis
Selected Press + Publications
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SCENE+HEARD | September 15th, 2023
“Alyvia Luong struggles to choose just one artwork she’s most proud of… At 20 years old, Luong has won 48 art accolades, six of which were national awards, and she practices nearly every medium: photography, film, illustration, sculpture, sound and immersive installations. Across them all, Luong has one goal—to tell a forgotten story.”
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VoyageHouston | December 20th, 2022
"Every neighborhood in Houston has its own vibe, style, culture and history, but what consistently amazes us is not what differentiates the various neighborhoods but rather what they all have in common. From the Fourth Ward to Sugar Land (and everywhere in between) we’ve been blown away by how many creative and talented people call Houston home. Check out some of the inspiring stories we’ve discovered throughout the city."
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ARTICULTURE from the Fort Wayne Museum of Art | September 1st, 2021
"If you visited the Scholastic Awards exhibition last year, you will know Alyvia's powerful photography that earned her, on top of NINE regional awards, four national medals. Both of her portfolios received national medals, one a Gold Medal...which goes to only sixteen students around the country (for context, there were 340,000 total submissions last year)!... Read on for insights into her work and process, and a glimpse into her (no doubt bright) future!"
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Newsroom (Scholastic Art & Writing Awards) | May 11th, 2021
"Alyvia Luong and Caroline Dinh were both awarded the highest honor in the 2021 Scholastic Awards: the Gold Medal Portfolio Award! Keep reading to learn more about them and to view some of their winning works."
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WBOI (NPR News & Diverse Music) | May 6th, 2021
"Luong's nationally recognized photography portfolio, The Sin(ner) I Cannot Forgive is a series of self portraits that chronologically depicts the moments that make up a life-changing event for the artist and her journey towards healing.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the young creative and her journey, WBOI's Julia Meek invited Alyvia into the studio to discuss this portfolio and its message as well as her other award-winning collection and what she hopes her future holds in store."
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The Journal Gazette | December 7th, 2020
"Carroll High School senior Alyvia Luong grew up telling everybody she would be an artist.
“And here I am,” said Luong, who recently learned that she and classmate Sabine Croy are finalists in the photography division of the 2021 National YoungArts Competition.
“There are four rounds of elimination you have to surpass to be selected as a finalist, and it's absolutely crazy to see I got this far,” Luong said in a statement. “I invested months of my time into my YoungArts project. It feels like a literal dream.”"
“REBELLION”
CHERRY MOON: Emerging Voices from the Asian Diaspora (2023)
CHERRY MOON is a special print anthology exclusively featuring the voices of Asian diaspora emerging writers and artists.
"…an exceptional covey of writers using language and thought to plumb questions of relationship to Asia as well as the non-Asian spaces they live in. The fact of this rigorous anthology, arranged with care and deliberate attention, shows me more new poets and writers to read again and again and trust that there are presses out there with representational justice helming the literary world. Think of how many constellations are out there beyond the Cherry Moon. Think of Cherry Moon opening the pages of possibility."
— Rajiv Mohabir
"THE SIN(NER) I CANNOT FORGIVE."
The Adroit Journal: Issue Forty (2022)
"There’s fantastic artwork and photography here that prioritizes self-preservation. See Scarlett Cai’s Fool’s Paradise and the haunting relevance of Maximo Guerra’s Satirical Stereotypes series. Witness Jalynn McDuffey’s Lookalike and the unflinching loneliness of Alyvia Luong’s photography series, The Sin(ner) I Cannot Forgive."
"THE SIN(NER) I CANNOT FORGIVE."
Best Teen Art (2021)
Best Teen Art showcases the incredible breadth of artwork created by the 2021 National Medalists of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The works created this year reflect the unprecedented times we’re living in. From dealing with the loss of loved ones, experiences, and routines due to the pandemic to reflections on social justice, the works featured in Best Teen Art capture this historical year as seen through the eyes of our nation’s teens.
"THE SIN(NER) I CANNOT FORGIVE."
National YoungArts Week + Anthology and Catalogue (2021)
Select works by 2021 YoungArts Finalists in Design Arts, Photography, Visual Arts and Writing.