Image: Dai Trang Nguyen, courtesy the artist.
Guildhouse announces artist Dai Trang Nguyen for The Guildhouse Collections Project with FABRIK
Guildhouse, in partnership with FABRIK Arts + Heritage and supported by Create SA, is delighted to announce Vietnamese-born, Adelaide-based artist and designer Dai Trang Nguyen as the 2025/26 artist for The Guildhouse Collections Project with FABRIK.
As South Australia’s leading organisation supporting visual artists, craftspeople and designers, Guildhouse champions ambitious opportunities that nurture practice and career development. The Collections Project, delivered in collaboration with the state’s major cultural institutions, exemplifies this commitment by connecting artists with significant collections to inspire new work.
This unique project provides artists with the opportunity to research an area of one of the institution’s collections and develop new work for exhibition. Championing the art and artists of our time while celebrating our cultural, historic and scientific heritage, The Collections Project has demonstrated the ability to provide new audience experiences while delivering long-term benefits to the artistic and career development of participating artists.
Located in Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills, FABRIK manages extensive cultural collections, including the textile heritage of the Onkaparinga Woollen Mill, historical and community archives, and contemporary living collections of people and place.
Running from August 2025 to April 2026, this residency-style program offers an opportunity for an artist, craftsperson, or designer to research, reflect and create new work in response to FABRIK’s rich collections, culminating in a public exhibition in early 2026.
Dai Trang will spend six months exploring these collections, developing new work that will be presented in February 2026 through exhibition and workshop opportunities.
Dai Trang is a Vietnamese artist and designer whose practice spans Vietnam, the UK and Australia. Trained in graphic design, her work has evolved into a meditative, process-driven practice rooted in mindfulness and presence. Influenced by her Vietnamese heritage, Zen Buddhist roots and lived experience as a migrant woman, her work often explores belonging, identity and the invisible threads that connect people across generations.
Dai Trang says, on this opportunity;
“I’m grateful for the chance to bring my mindful practice to this project and connect with the rich heritage of textiles. As I continue transforming the present moment into artwork, I’m excited to learn the stories woven into every moment with the community. It feels like I’m embarking on an unfolding textiles adventure across time, place, and culture, alongside many companions and generations.”
Dai Trang’s practice embraces textiles, found objects and mixed media, creating contemplative sculptures, wall pieces and installations. Since moving to South Australia in 2022 to pursue a Master’s in Contemporary Art at UniSA, she has exhibited locally and internationally, undertaken a residency in Adelaide, and received recognition for her artistic achievements.
Beth Neate, Chief Executive, Guildhouse says;
“Guildhouse is immensely proud to announce South Australian artist and designer Dai Trang as the selected artist for The Collections Project with FABRIK, thanks to our partner FABRIK Arts and Heritage and with the support of CreateSA. The Collections Project is a much sought-after, research- led opportunity for an artist to explore, reflect upon and reinterpret important state heritage collections and we can’t wait to see how Dai Trang’s work will respond to Fabrik’s extensive textile heritage and connect with audiences.”
Melinda Rankin, Director, FABRIK Arts + Heritage says;
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Dai Trang and the prospect of developing a rich, informative and satisfying experience through this project. We are also excited for our creative community to gain insight into how Dai Trang’s intuitive process and fresh approach to textile techniques and materials informs her work.”
The Guildhouse Collections Project with FABRIK is delivered in partnership with FABRIK Arts + Heritage and supported by Create SA.
Image: Patchwork of Names, mixed media. Photograph Dai Trang.
Artist biography
Dai Trang is a Vietnamese artist and designer based on Kaurna Country, with a creative journey spanning Vietnam, the UK and Australia. Originally trained in graphic design, her practice has evolved from structured precision to a meditative, intuitive approach rooted in mindfulness, presence and the unfolding of each moment.
During the solitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, art became her sanctuary and a guide for self-understanding. This led to her first solo exhibition in Vietnam and later inspired her move to South Australia in 2022 to pursue a Master’s in Contemporary Art. Since then, her practice has deepened through introspection and experimentation, expanding materially from digital illustration into more tactile forms. After years of solitary reflection, she is now embracing more relational and community-connected ways of making—opening her process to conversations with place, people, and the more-than-human world, while staying true to her mindful, process-driven approach.
Influenced by her Vietnamese heritage, Zen Buddhist roots and lived experience as a migrant woman, she navigates the liminal space between cultures, traditions and time. Her recurring themes often explore belonging, identity, and the invisible threads that connect people across generations. Working with textiles, found objects and mixed media, she creates contemplative sculptures, wall pieces and installations that reflect life’s fluidity, impermanence, and interconnectedness. Her process is slow and embodied, embracing making as a form of meditation—each gesture a response to internal and external conditions as they arise.
Dai Trang’s work has been exhibited in both Vietnam and Australia. While still new to the country, she has demonstrated her commitment to art as a life practice—receiving multiple recognitions during her studies at UniSA and recently completing an artist residency in Adelaide. Alongside her art practice, she continues to work as a designer and is passionate about arts education, storytelling and creative wellbeing.
