By Jacqueline Stoughton
With a combined force of creativity and strong marketing skills, Olivia Nguyen, recent CCSU graduate and aspiring artist, has showcased her work in New York galleries and has since attracted musicians Rick Ross and Swiss Beatz to purchase her works of art.
“It was unreal, it was my first time meeting someone that famous,” said Nguyen describing her experience of meeting Rick Ross. Mayback music group first discovered Nguyen, who goes by the artist name “Fiya Bomb,” when they saw a small drawing of Ross on her Instagram. They then contacted her, asking to draw a larger portrait of him
“He wanted me to come to his concert that night to show everyone the picture but that never happened, I was just really busy that day,” said Nguyen. She has also sold to famous celebrities such as Wocka Flocka Flame, Swizz Beatz and wife Alicia Keys, and painted Big Sean a portrait as a gift.
Nguyen attended CCSU as an art major with a minor in marketing. Although she is a self-proclaimed “horrible” marketing student, she was able to learn a lot from her marketing classes and manifest skills that have attributed greatly to her success as a selling artist.
“I just go about it in a way where I seek what people like and what they’re interested in,” said Nguyen. “You got to do something that captures people a lot.”
Along with self-advertisement, making all her own professional posters and flyers, Nguyen has a very unique way of exposing and networking her artwork to the public.
“I use ustream.com to do live broadcasts; I always stream when it’s mid-way through, after we’ve already started painting and there’s a cut off time,” said Nguyen. “People always ask how does someone who just graduated college become such a successful entrepreneur? You have to promote yourself as if you’re someone who’s that great.”
Nguyen only uses Facebook and Instagram to promote herself and her art. “I treat my Instagram like a blog; on there I just have a way of being nice to people and being really open.”
Nguyen’s success first began to take off during her senior year at CCSU when she had her first gallery that consisted mainly of simple drawings and artwork she composed in class. She later applied to a non-profit organization and received a call from the director in LA a few days later asking Nguyen to host her own art show in Brooklyn, New York. This was Nguyen’s first art show outside of Connecticut.
“From that point, it just escalated by word of mouth and I kept holding shows,” said Nguyen. “It just happened so fast, so quick. It just escalated from me continuing to do my artwork and promoting myself by staging the scene as if it were a bigger deal, I would make it seem like more than what it actually was.”
Nguyen says that, in the future, she does not want to work for someone. Her ultimate career goal that she has set for herself is to continue to thrive in her artwork and to be her own entrepreneur. “I find different things to do just so I can say I’ve mastered it all,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen said she also wants to exhibit in Art Basel this year. She was asked to exhibit in the celebrity art show that takes place once a year in Miami, Australia, and in Hong Kong last year too, but opted out because she felt she was unprepared.
“I want to have my own exhibit in a museum, I want to design for people,” said Nguyen. “I want someone to be able to say I need your mind. I just want to keep doing art and be happy.”
“She’s very driven and passionate in what she does and it shows through her artwork and how she displays her work on social media,” said Kerbie Benoit, a close friend of Nguyen’s who has helped her put together her first art gallery at Community Central two years ago. “I’m proud of her and proud of where she’s going and I know she’s going to get even bigger.”
“Art professors and advisors always tell students art is nonexistent in the money-making world. But, anything can happen. I would have never expected to meet all the people I’ve met in the last eight months,” said Nguyen. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t going to make a lot of money from art. It take a lot of hard work, effort, and I believe its God too.”
You can see Nguyen’s artwork on her website www.fiyabomb.com and can follow her on Instagram @fiyab0mb for updates on her artwork and future galleries and exhibits.