Artist Spotlight: Mike Tran

                         "3 strikes, 2 missed opportunities, and 1 lost soul" (Tran. 2023)


In his own words:

Greetings friends! I'm Cuong Mike Tran, one of the artists featured in the PRP3 exhibit. Thanks for checking out our work and supporting us!

I'm currently housed in a California institution. I've been incarcerated nearly 15 years of my 44 years on this planet. As difficult as these years have been, they were not spent in vain. I discovered and honed my artistic skills in here, and have used art to validate my humanity.

I mainly produce hyperrealism paintings and sculpture work using found objects. I prefer acrylic paints, but only have access to the cheapest materials and mediums.

For this exhibit, I chose Bill Clinton as a portrait subject to highlight his contributions to the 3 strikes law. As per my title for this work, three strikes means that the system failed to rehabilitate. Yet who talks about this? The blame is on the 'super predators'.

One of my goals with my art is to bring awareness to this system and to the humans housed in the carceral setting. I want to help get our voices heard. I want people to look at my art and try to reconcile how such a 'monster' can create such beauty.

I have work that will part of a group exhibit at the American Visionary Arts Museum in late 2025. I recently had work published through the reSentencing Journal from Tufts University.

Thanks for all the love and support, folks!