Hi, I’m Rylan!
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I’m a researcher interested in material science to uncover the materials and techniques of historical art and develop preservation strategies, especially for those of underrepresented cultures.
Here, you can find my works in: Conservation = my brain, Curation = my spirit, and Fine Arts = my heart. To me, each addresses a different requirement of cultural memory: how objects survive, how they are interpreted, and how humans’ raison d'être is generated through making. Welcome to my yapping! :D
BA in Art History & minor in Studio Art @ Tufts University
Conservation ✧
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
Explore my conservation and collections care work at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a historic house collection.
Coming soon!
My learning experience in this conservation program (2025).
Curation ✧
As Art Curator and Director, I led the full curatorial and production process for “Bac Nhip Tang Bong,” an exhibition and event series about Vietnamese traditional performance arts through the contemporary lens.
Fine Arts ✧
Painting
A cabinet of curiosities comprised a painting made from 6 historic blue pigments, with the imagery inspired by conservation scientifc imaging techniques.
A painting exploring cyclical history and eternal return through Flemish-inspired glazing techniques.
An attempt to reconstruct traditional Vietnamese iconography techniques with distemper painting and gold gilding on dó paper.
Papermaking & Artist’s Book
An artist’s book combining papermaking and lithography, examining memory, repetition, and transformation through the flag-book structure and handmade paper.
A carousel artist’s book that reinterprets Ptolemaic world maps, exploring how ancient systems of knowledge shaped humanity’s understanding of the world and the cosmos.
A clamshell box merging bookmaking and tempera painting, presenting personal memory as fragmented, episodic objects held in unstable order.
A work on handmade paper inspired by the Egyptian Lake of Fire, reflecting on fragmentation, punishment, and the fragile boundary between destruction and regeneration.
A sculptural installation using handmade paper and organic materials, meditating on departure, transformation, and the tension between fragility and endurance.
A folio artist’s book structured around twelve Victorian envelopes, engaging time, secrecy, and cyclical reading through participatory assembly.
A pulp painting on handmade paper that uses material contrast to express grief, loss, and the quiet persistence of hope.
A hand-bound poetry book using Japanese stab binding, where text, image, and paper layers unfold through reading. The work explores remorse, memory, and emotional asymmetry through sequential concealment and reveal