Fox Nguyen emigrated to the United States with his mother when he was 15. Though he grew up Buddhist, he was in a Catholic high school where he struggled as a gay teenager. Once he was an adult at 18, he ran away from home and was homeless.
Now, he’s 27-years-old and making award-winning nail art in the shadows of the Appalachian mountains.
Despite the multiple obstacles thrown his way, Nguyen overcame them, all while sticking to his most valued advice from his mother – stay humble.
“It’s good to be proud of yourself and what you’ve done and achieved, but don’t let it get into your head,” Nguyen said.
Moving from Vietnam
Nguyen fell in love with art just as soon as he learned how to hold a pencil.
He was born in Haiphong in the northern part of Vietnam, where he attended kindergarten. He recalled being handed a crayon for an art project, and a whole new world opening up before him.
“I was feeling excited about it, so I would just go for it and paint,” he said. “It just clicked with me, so naturally I just wanted to get into it.”
As he grew older, Nguyen enveloped himself in the arts. He would go around Haiphong with a classmate and a teacher painting murals.
He helped his school district compete with others through art projects, which gave him a community experience of art – something that would prove useful later.
“We were so involved in it,” he said.
But Nguyen’s family was not going to stay in Vietnam for much longer. For a couple of years, his parents were speaking to one of his uncles about sponsoring their emigration to the United States.
But Fox’s father died when Fox was 13. Two years later, Fox moved to Arizona.
Bouncing around
When Nguyen landed in the U.S., he attended a private Christian high school. It quickly became a struggle, as his classmates were not accepting of his sexuality.
He never officially came out as gay, but he recalled his classmates seemingly being able to tell and bullying him.
“I had no friends,” he said. “Everyone thought I was a freak.”
After two years in Arizona, he moved to Kentucky to live with a different uncle, who owned a nail salon. At the shop, Nguyen was able to start learning manicuring and, soon, nail art.
“At the time, I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,” he said. “I was in need of money to go to college and [pay] my allowances and stuff.”
After learning some basic skills at his uncle’s salon and saving money, Nguyen enrolled in a beauty school to become officially licensed. There, he learned more about nail art and got into it.
During this time, Nguyen struggled at home. He didn’t come out to his family, but a letter from his last school outed him.
“You had to have a recommendation from the other school, so they just kind of put it in there that they didn’t agree with my lifestyle choice, which means they tried to say that I’m gay,” Nguyen said. “Then my uncle found out about it, and he [gave] me snide comments.”
Nguyen was already a quiet kid, but his aunt clamped down on his free will. He wouldn’t be able to find community living in Kentucky.
So he ran away at 18 to Ohio, homeless. That’s where he met his “second mom.”
“Leaving my family was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made”
Nguyen met Nancy at a homeless shelter in Ohio, where she was also a resident. She was able to obtain permanent housing, and she invited Nguyen to stay with her so she could help him get back on his feet.
She helped Nguyen move and supported him at appointments – and, for the first time, gave him independence. All he had to do was remember to lock the front door.
“I met a lot of good people [during this time],” he said. “It was eye-opening.”
Nguyen was able to explore his gay identity and socialize with like-minded people. After moving out to his own place, he made connections that later led him to the Trillium Project in Portsmouth, where he would have a stable income through commissions from Trillium and his own clientele. He has helped beautify the city through murals, some of which celebrate LGBTQ+ identities.
“Leaving my family [was] probably one of the best decisions I’ve made,” Nguyen said. “It took me a while to get on my feet, but it [was] definitely worth it.”
Becoming extravagant
Once settled, he focused on his nail art. His Instagram, @foxesnails_artist, shows many of his designs, and he’s fully booked for the rest of the year. He takes 50-60 clients per month at his small studio in Portsmouth, where he paints everything from vibrant night skies to colorful pop culture figures. Nguyen describes his style as “collectively bright and vibrant, but with a hint of vintage and florals.”
Nonetheless, Nguyen gets a variety of clients. Some clients are “a little more wild than others,” he said. Others let Nguyen choose, or just want something simple.
Though he’s done artwork on large canvases – both paper and concrete – he finds the most satisfaction in making detailed works on a canvas less than an inch long.
Over the past three years, he has competed in Nailympia, an international nail art competition, winning two gold medals in 2022 and a bronze in 2024.
He loves not only the challenge of painting on a small canvas, but how his skills transform his clients’ nails “into something extravagant” and “makes them feel good.”
“It really sounds cliche to make people feel good, but it’s just the way it is,” Nguyen said.
His community murals remind him of what he did as a child in Vietnam. But in Portsmouth and beyond, he’s just trying to keep doing what he’s doing.
“I’m just trying to stay alive,” Nguyen said. But he wants “to keep doing art and spread my gayness.” 
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