Anh Nguyen was born in Melbourne and now lives and paints in Thirroul on the NSW South Coast, with her partner and 4 children. Her art practice arrived by way of a circuitous route, though she had never really let go of that pencil from the time she made the very first mark. She was recently awarded the Lyn McCrea Memorial Drawing Prize 2020, and was also the recipient of the Basil Sellers Art Award in 2018. She has been a finalist in other well-regarded prizes such as the Dobell Drawing Prize 2021, Kilgour Art Prize 2020 (Highly Commended), the Rick Amor Self-Portrait Prize (2019) and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (2019 and 2017).
Established in 2021, the National Emerging Art Prize was created to provide an annual, highly visible national platform to identify, promote and support the most promising emerging visual and ceramic artists in Australia.