I am an artist of the Southeast Asian diaspora. When I was seven, my family left Saigon and resettled in South Philadelphia. This experience as a refugee in the metropole informs my work through the themes of displacement and place-building, landscape and historical memory, leaving and returning, loss and transformation. I use photography, observational video, and soundscapes to explore how the cultural and spiritual practices of displaced communities connect us to our history, build community, and transform places that have been subjected to social and economic dislocation. My immersive installation, Đi thì không có đường về (Leave,then there is no way home), was commissioned by the Asian Arts Initiative, with original funding from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia. The exhibit opened in May 2018 as a part of Asian Arts Initiative's (ex)CHANGE: History Place Presence project. Photo credit: Ezekiel Joubert III
I have served in curatorial and management positions in community arts organizations, including Asian Arts Initiative, Frameline, and Scribe Video Center. I hold a B.A. in American Studies (minor in Asian American Studies) from Yale University. As a Cota-Robles Fellow, I earned an M.A. in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. I was a recipient of a 2018/19 MCAD–Jerome Foundation Fellowships for Early Career Artists, administered by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and funded by the Jerome Foundation. Photo: Donna Backues
