100-Degree Weather in Swamptown USA: Catching up with Loc Huynh

Radio Tave is open and broadcasting. Cowboix Hevvven’s doors are swinging open and closed with new portal travelers. With so many new artists, it is nice to see the return of a friendly face. 

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Loc Huynh is a Texas-based artist with installations in both Meow Wolf exhibitions in Texas, so this ain’t his first rodeo. I got to chat with Huynh for a bit about the process of installing this time around, and how it has been different, along with seeing what else he has been up to.

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And wow, is Huynh busy! He is teaching, and has an artist residency at Artists On-Site at Asia Society, Houston, while also working through a personal practice. 

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I called him on a summer afternoon and caught him in between trips teaching and working on his new installation in Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave. As he prepares to pull off the highway, we chat about our days and the summer heat in our respective states. I am in Colorado, so it is nothing compared to the heat of Texas. Loc is rocking a jean jacket and a hat with some wear and tear on the brim, an outfit I marvel at as the summer heat of Texas overwhelms me. I wonder if the thick chain around his neck ever gets hot in the Texas sun, and we joke about how people in Texas can rock three-piece suits in near 100-degree weather with 90% humidity.

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Huynh gets settled in for our chat in front of a strip mall off the side of the highway, and we begin to talk about what he has been up to and how it has been since the last installation he did in Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal in Grapevine, TX as well as learning a bit about him and his recent activities.

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Huynh has received an artist residency at Asia Society, Houston, where he is one of four artists creating artwork at the museum. He feels that it is a unique experience, as people usually go into museums to see work already made. With this residency, guests can see contemporary artists creating new works. Huynh likes the feedback from the community, the fact that the community can engage with local artists, and the artists get to interact with a new audience– showing them that there are local artists in their community. His favorite thing about the residency is welcoming people into the studio, and he always loves engaging the community as they come in to check out his work:

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“It's fun. Having people essentially come into the studio and kind of, like, ask questions about, you know, who I am and what the artwork’s about. I have fun even explaining things like the program to them, because a lot of times, it's the first time they've ever been to the museum, as it is a new museum in the area. I try to give them a good explanation and try to be as open and be as welcoming as possible.’

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Huynh is using his studio time in his residency to produce work for his next museum show this upcoming spring, at the Ogden Museum of Southern Arts in New Orleans. Huynh identifies strongly as a Southern Texas artist, an unshakeable piece of his identity that he notes he would never be able to divorce himself from fully. Even though he grew up eating Vietnamese food, his favorite type of food is either Tex-Mex or Cajun. 

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“You see, it's weird. I grew up eating like Vietnamese food but l'd be remiss to say it's like… my favorite food is definitely either like Tex-Mex or Cajun food, honestly. Yeah, but that's the thing I like about Houston though, you can get all that here and even just a blend of it all too. Like, it's not uncommon to be like in Houston and stumble upon Viet Cajun or something like that.”

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Loc is a fan of rap, and has been listening to a lot of Denzel Curry and Balance and Composure lately, and his favorite podcast to jam to while painting is the Weekly Planet.

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Along with being a fan of cartoons, Huynh is also a big fan of comics, and used to collect them. Unfortunately, he had to sell them when he was in school and hasn’t sought to refresh his collection since. He still keeps tabs and stays up to date with comics. Huynh’s favorite comic hero is Batman, more when he is a detective rather than when he is fighting giant monsters or aliens.

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Loc has recently taken up teaching for the local university while keeping up on his personal practice. The installation at The Real Unreal took a lot of time, and he learned a lot from the process. He hopes to plan a family trip with his mom and brothers to check out both of his installations in The Real Unreal and Radio Tave.

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We begin to dive into the exhibition experience, and Huynh notes that this time, he is more familiar with the uncertainty of the process:

 

“You can plan things out on paper in advance as much as you want until you bring all the pieces together…that's a whole different story because we had to find a lot of interesting solutions when it came to fitting the cutouts together and placing them onto the wall. There were things that I didn't anticipate, and even like the baseboard or like an outlet that I hadn't planned to cover up and figuring out those types of solutions.’

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Installations in Meow Wolf have many variables and require much flexibility from all involved. Artists and the facilities crew often work together midway through the process to make sure the room is up to code and that the artistic vision is not impeded. Huynh notes that the local exhibition team has been incredible in the process and is extremely helpful when mitigating variables. Being flexible and working with the unknown is a crucial skill for any artist, especially for artists working to bring such large portals and installations to life!

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Though bringing Huynh’s installation, Swamptown USA, to life has been a little chaotic and unpredictable, Huynh appreciates the flexibility provided throughout the process. Loc’s installation is a love letter to the swampiness of Houston guiding its genesis in Meow Wolf Houston. There is a shared motif between his two installations. As you look around, you will see a little familiar lizard that has traveled all the way from Grapevine to be in Houston. Huynh’s room is full of color, life, and as the title suggests, is truly a love letter to the swamps of Houston. There are great trees, lizard life, and a cowboy riding a dragon. His style is joyful, experimental, and energizing to spend time in.

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Huynh’s style is characterized and informed by his interests and life. His rendering style is gentle, novel, and filled with joy. His subjects often tackle the experience of growing up with Vietnamese and Texas influences and highlight the juxtaposed iconography of these cultures.  It will make you feel as though you’ve entered into a portal that took you to the outskirts of Houston, where the swamp is full of life, the birdcalls fill the air, and there is a friendly cowboy with a strange steed grabbing a drink of water. 

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