Duong has a serious case of wanderlust. Traveling fuels her imagination and her artwork is a product of the experiences she has while seeking adventure world-wide.

Although she always knew she wanted to be an artist, her expressive art style did not fully develop until she was in college at the Art Institute of Chicago. It wasn’t so much the school itself that informed her style; she said there was not much a professor could do to “change” anything about the way she draws.

Instead, she said she found herself caught up in the unique urban sprawl that makes up the city. She remembers sitting, waiting for the train, sketching the world as it looked from her eyes.

Her mixed media work has evolved over the last couple of years. Initially she created large sketches and completed them with wildly textured and patterned papers. More recently, her pen and watercolor sketches are incorporated into these pieces which allows her to 'work' while traveling.

Above all else, Duong said her drawings are mostly just an interpretation of her environment, meaning there’s always a need to go out into the world just so things can happen. Duong owes a lot to the world. She has met friends and made life experiences. Perhaps, most of all, the world and its wonders have helped her grow artistically in a way that would have never manifested otherwise.

Denise Duong