About the Artist
Hang Pham
— Christi
I am a self-taught Vietnamese-American painter working across landscape, still life, portraiture, and the abstract.
A life rendered in paint.
My name is Hang Pham — I paint under the name Christi Pham. I am a self-taught painter living and working in San Jose, California. I was born in Vietnam, where I first began painting, and have called the United States home since 1986.
My work moves fluidly across subject and medium. I paint in oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, and pencil — and I also work in ceramic — each medium giving voice to something different. Landscape, still life, portraiture, floral study, abstraction, ocean, and devotional subjects all find a place on my canvases. My practice is shaped by curiosity rather than by category.
A note on signatures — in 1989, before I became a U.S. citizen, I signed my paintings with my Vietnamese name, Hang Pham. I later also began signing as Christi Pham. That is why both names appear across my body of work, and why each painting in this gallery lists the name it is signed with. Both belong to the same hand.
01 — Biography
Origins & Practice
My painting life began in Vietnam, where I taught myself to draw and paint before emigrating to the United States in 1986. I have continued that self-directed practice for nearly four decades, building a body of work that refuses to settle into any single genre.
Today I paint from home in San Jose, California. I try to paint the way I live — attentively, generously, and across many registers. A single week might take me from a loose watercolor of the coast to a careful oil portrait, from a charcoal still life to an abstract field of color.
02 — Practice
Subjects & Mediums
Subjects
Landscape · Still Life · Portraiture · Abstract · Flowers · Ocean · Devotional
Mediums
Oil · Acrylic · Watercolor · Charcoal · Pencil · Ceramic
Approach
Self-taught. I am guided by observation, intuition, and long hours at the easel.
03 — Education
Study & Recognition
2021
Honor Student — West Valley College
Present
I am studying Art at West Valley College & San Jose City College
Earlier
I began painting in Vietnam — entirely self-taught
Vision
“My dream is to mount an exhibition whose proceeds serve those with the least — families living in poverty, and children without families of their own.”
— Christi Pham
04 — Vision
Beyond the Canvas
Beyond painting, I am drawn to new creative territory — exploring ceramics and fashion design as natural extensions of a life lived in making. My dream is to one day mount a solo exhibition and direct its proceeds toward charitable work — supporting people living in poverty and children without families of their own.
I am also a devoted single mother and an active sportswoman. I play tennis and golf, and I believe the same attention I bring to a canvas can be brought to a life.
In Contact
For enquiries regarding available works, commissions, or exhibition opportunities, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
© Christi PhamSan Jose · California · USASelf-taught · Working since Vietnam