Above and at front, Can Huynh works at the Downtown Stockton Art Walk. Photo by Clifford Oto / 209Vibe.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This story also appears in the February edition of the 209Vibe newspaper. To find out where you can pick up a copy, click here.)

Stockton artist Can Huynh wants to give a new face to spray-paint art. Huynh, 26, hopes his work will build community support for spray-paint art that will encourage taggers who vandalize to come off the street. Stockton officials have discussed creating a mural project for local graffiti artists, an idea Huynh supports.

For Huynh, spray painting is one of the most creative outlets for self-expression. He prefers painting in public and making his pieces in front of people as a way of combining visual and performing art.

“Spray painting has a lot of freedom, that’s what I like about it most,” he said. “You don’t really think up technical things for it. You don’t plan a lot ahead. You just use whatever comes out on the canvas.

“Spray painting gives you the ability to use your creativity in a very spontaneous way. Just grab whatever you see at the moment, whatever inspires you at the moment, to create the painting,” Huynh said.

Huynh is working on a series of paintings on mirrors he calls “Self Reflection.” It allows Huynh to paint vivid landscapes, sunsets or water scenes while looking at himself in the mirror, contemplating his artistic vision.

His spray-paint skills have been honed through trial and error. The artist has not had any formal art instruction, instead preferring to teach himself through experimentation and learning about others in the field. And as a child growing up in Vietnam, Huynh did not have the free time or resources to express himself artistically.

“We didn’t have a lot of education in the arts,” Huynh said. “But as a child, I was always interested in art and fascinated with sand. I used to draw a lot on sand using water, my hands or different things I would find on the ground.”

In 1993, Huynh and his family moved to Stockton, where he was first introduced to art in an educational setting. Huynh said his interest in art continued to grow through high school, but he did not pursue it further because of his family’s emphasis on academics.

Now a student at California State University, Sacramento, Huynh has found a way to balance his art with academics by painting during school breaks and in his free time. For more information, check out Wopsim.com.

Here are some examples of Huynh's work:

email: nmatthews@209Vibe.com