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Death has been the constant companion in ’s life—from war-torn Vietnam to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But through art, Luu, now a master of fine arts (MFA) student at George Mason �鶹����’s , within the , has discovered peace, purpose, and a path to healing.

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“All of my artwork is about revisiting,” said Luu. “Art is not to forget, but to express.”��

Luu wasn’t yet born when his unlikely odyssey began 50 years ago this month, following the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975. Nearly a year later, he came into the world as his family’s life was upended by war and political upheaval. His father, a South Vietnamese government official, along with his grandfather and uncle, were lost in the war, and the family home was confiscated. When Luu was just a year old, he and his family were sent to a re-education camp, where they endured harsh poverty and uncertainty.��

When he was 7, Luu and his family managed to escape Vietnam by sea, in search of freedom in a small boat packed with refugees. Their harrowing journey lasted more than two months; by the time of their rescue by the British Royal Navy, nearly half of the passengers perished from starvation. Luu was just shy of his 8th birthday when he was forced to help push lifeless bodies overboard—a memory that has haunted him since.��

After years of adversity in trying conditions in refugee camps in Hong Kong, Luu and his family made their way to the United States in 1991. Following his high school graduation in 1995, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force and became a medic, driven by a desire to save lives after witnessing so much suffering, and determined to do everything he could to prevent others from enduring the same fate. His 20-year career in the U.S. military included deployments to the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan, often alongside special operations units.��

“I have seen the worst part of humanity,” said Luu, who will turn 48 later this year. “And it stays with you.”��

In 2012, while serving in Afghanistan, Luu was severely wounded. His lengthy convalescence at Walter Reed Medical Center, then located in Washington, D.C., marked a turning point. There, a hospital official introduced him to the healing power of art by providing him a canvas and drawing utensils.��

“In that moment, I saw art as a way to let something inside me out, without having to say it,” said Luu, who while working on his degree also serves as documentarian for Mason Exhibitions.��

He found making art incredibly therapeutic. Sculpture, especially using raw and rigid materials like concrete and epoxy resin, has become a personal healing ritual. ��

Although he had no formal art background, Luu knew he had found his voice. After earning a BA in theology from Catholic Distance �鶹���� in 2010, he applied to George Mason’s School of Art, . He recognized that art was more than a way to help himself, it also allowed him reach other veterans grappling with the same guilt and isolation he felt after leaving the military. He’s on track to complete his MFA in 2026. ��

All of his sculptures are . “Like me, these materials have been given a second chance at life,” Luu said.��

��Artist Peter Winant was the director of George Mason’s School of Art when he first saw Luu’s early drawings in 2017.��

“There was something really deep in them,” Winant said. “Some form of truth that few of us could approach.”��

That truth now fuels Luu’s mission to help other veterans navigate their own trauma—a mission he pursues with deep purpose and gratitude for the opportunity. He creates art with a focus on mental health and uses his story to encourage others to find their own form of expression.�� ��

In 2024, the U.S. Air Force invited Luu , teaching recovering airmen about the healing power of art, and how to channel their experiences into creative expression. He’ll do the same this November, during a weeklong George Mason conference for 400 recovering veterans spanning all military branches. The week will conclude with a public art exhibit featuring the veterans’ creations. ��

His solo exhibition is on display through May at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. It is a powerful testament to one man’s journey through unimaginable pain and his unwavering pursuit of peace. ��

“Art is the one universal language—it’s always been the language of humanity,” said Luu. “I cannot physically fix what happened in the past, but at least I have closure. Like life as a whole, you adapt in art to survive.”��