Statement

My work often reveals insight into my personal life experiences as an Asian American woman. It also shares human experiences of heartache and triumph, hardship and perseverance, and loss and fulfillment.

As a first generation Vietnamese American, art has become the valuable tool that has granted me the chance to live the immigrant experience felt through my parents and elders. Through the creative process, I can learn both the happiness and difficulties experienced through their stories, rewrite them as true tales of triumph, as well as leaving a reminder that out of tragedy is ever born the blessings that we might have never been able to predict.

The conceptual meaning behind materials is often an underlying catalyst for all my projects. The materials used in Broken Sails consist of flags made out of donated t-shirt from refugees and immigrants. The form is inspired by stories of refugee survivors who desperately tried to gain visibility stranded at sea for weeks by waving their t-shirts as flags. My work also speaks on the healing that occurs on a personal and universal level, while we work through the circumstances of life, striving to find meaning and look to the passage of time to mend all things. “Broken Sails” in turn become a monumental installation to celebrate the hardships we experience in life as human beings.

Art is the space in between through which I connect my spiritual being to my earthly existence to tell the stories that we might all share and commemorate. For me, it has made the intangible tangible and at times, offers solace in the seemingly unbearable barriers in my life. It is my form of discipline, study and prayer and through my work, I share my journey through this delicate life.