Born to royalty in South Vietnam on August 22, 1963, Tuan is shielded from the war by his family’s wealth and privilege. During the fall of Saigon, in 1975, Tuan’s life transitions from one of wealth and privilege to one of poverty and oppression under the Communist regime. He survives a failed escape attempt in which he witnesses the death of his closest friend, but is then imprisoned for a year in a Communist reeducation camp.

Using clay, made from the floor of his prison cell, Tuan sculpts likenesses of his fellow prisoners and of his captors as a way of keeping a grip on sanity during this trying time. Eventually, Tuan succeeds in leaving Vietnam, via an arduous two-month trek through the jungles of Southeast Asia to Cambodia where he labours for many more months to pay for passage to Thailand and eventually the Philippines. At the end of this journey, Tuan looks for ways to gain the freedom of the United States.

The talent Tuan displays in a series of sculptures honouring his fellow escapee’s heroism gives Tuan a notoriety that catches the attention of the U.S. Embassy, whose assistance finally enables him to immigrate to the United States, in 1989.

The then struggling artist does not give up and quickly concentrates on improving his situation by earning his degree in Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Southern California, in Laguna Beach.

In 1994, Tuan receives the prestigious Gloria Medal for his meritorious body of work from the National Sculpture Society, the oldest organization of professional sculptors in the U.S. As Tuan’s career begins to take off, he is commissioned by the Nicole Brown-Simpson Charitable Foundation to sculpt a memorial bust. In 2003, Tuan completes the 15-foot tall Vietnam War memorial monument, installed in Westminster, California, the world’s first bronze sculpture commemorating the camaraderie between South Vietnamese and American soldiers and celebrating the value of freedom.

2006 sees a collection of Tuan heroics installed at Kuhn Corporation’s Plaza in Orlando, Florida, as a vital part of their reinvigoration of the downtown area, and the Island of Trinidad welcomes Tuan’s heroic “Four Elements” in 2007.

Constantly concerned by the notion of freedom, Tuan is presently working on the Vietnamese Refugee Memorial, a reminder to future generations of the sacrifices made to secure their freedom.

“If we live in this world and forget the past, we cannot see the future.”