“Life in Many Worlds,” by Phung Huynh, Fullerton College’s 2026 artist-in-residence, explores cultural identity and the refugee experience. The opening reception was held on Thursday. Huynh is a Vietnamese Cambodian multimedia artist whose work re-examines and sheds light on both her experience and the broader, forgotten experiences of refugees.
As the gallery opened, a steady stream of students, faculty, and other visitors filled the exhibit space. Large sheer banners with images of deteriorating Khmer Buddha statues hung in the center of the gallery. When standing in the right place, the images overlapped to reconstruct the sacred icons. Some of the walls were donut-box pink, bearing more of Huynh’s work, ranging from illustrations, paintings, collages, and screen prints.
Born in Vietnam in 1978 to a Vietnamese and Chinese mother and a Cambodian father who fled to Vietnam to escape the Khmer Rouge genocide in 1975, Huynh and her family spent time in a Thai refugee camp before relocating briefly to Michigan and finally settling down in Los Angeles.
“The work is about the refugee experience, it is about displacement because of US imperialism, and I think it’s very topical with what’s going on right now with immigrant communities being attacked,” said Huynh.
The exhibition includes pieces from across Huynh’s career, including selections from “Pretty Hurts,” a series that, according to her website, “probes the questions of cultural perception and cultural authenticity through images of the Asian female body vis-à-vis plastic surgery.”
“The Pink Donut Box” is a group of illustrations drawn on donut boxes that “unpack the complexities of immigration, displacement, and cultural assimilation within Southeast Asian communities,” and “Return Home” is a collection of drawings and photographs of Khmer Buddha statues that were looted from Cambodia.
The works on display were chosen in collaboration with Jasmine McNeal, a professor of museum studies and art gallery curator at Fullerton College.
“I think it’s really important to install representation and hopefulness for our students,” said McNeal. “Having an artist like Phung, who is Vietnamese and Cambodian, or having a previous artist-in-residence, Pável Acevedo, who is Oaxacan, having that representation and seeing the possibilities, I think, allows accessibility and education for our students.”
The reception also featured a performance by the Modern Apsara Company, a Cambodian classical dance company based in Long Beach, which blessed the space with “Robam Jun Por,” a dance traditionally performed to welcome and bestow good fortune to guests, and “Preah Thong and Neang Neak,” a dance depicting the mythical origin of Cambodia.
Especially now, Huynh hopes the work on display may inspire other artists to speak out and stand in solidarity with those who have endured similar hardships.
“Art gives space for courage,” said Huynh. “People who can’t protest or talk about it because it’s very traumatizing, you can make work about it. I feel like art is somehow more accessible and universal. If you don’t have the language, you can still experience art. If you come from different backgrounds, you can still experience it.”
The gallery is open from Monday to Thursday until March 25, 2026. Huynh will hold a lecture and gallery visit on March 4th, and during her residency week from March 2nd to 5th.
*This article was corrected on Feb. 22, 2026. A previous version said Huynh was a Vietnamese multimedia artist; Huynh identifies as Vietnamese Cambodian.*
