Finally, The show will be up on Dec, 04, 2025.
This is my artist 's statement . I will share a gallery space with two other Vietnamese artists.
Chau Huynh
Artist's statement for 2025 “Cut, Stich, Liminal”
The Vietnam/American war ended in 1975 with officially conclusion that Vietnamese people won the war. However, the post war era is a different story when the unpacked and unspoken traumas that more complicated and causing invisible wound for so many of Vietnamese for the last 50 years. I am one that belongs to post war generation who experiences the unnamed trauma that is silently, heavily, unconsciously and involuntarily passed down from the previous generation, especially from my parents who both endured dramatically through the war.
I thought the war had nothing to do with me since I am living in a peaceful time. Turned out, often time I feel stuck and confused, sad and depressed, numb and anxious when the word “war” mentioned. I have been using my art practice to learn about this controversial war for the last 20 years so I could own my truth. Eventually I learnt that truth hurts but it is necessary for healing.
This project is my attempt to record my grief for my father who passed away in 1993. I remembered that when we were together, my father and I barely talked about the war and his experience related to the war. We did not have a good relationship because he left the family when I was a child. When he died, I mourned him publicly but never wholeheartedly grief him. In my mind back there, I never had a love for him since I felt numb. When I grew older, the numbness turned into guilt. The guilt gets heavy when I feel that I miss him.
The two quilts I had done for this show represent my courage and effort to learn the truth about my father, my grief for him, my yearning to hear from him what he would had say about the war. I used his green blanket that he carried with him throughout his lifetime to sew onto the quilt as my commitment to mend my relationship with him. Deep down from my heart, I know that I would never know his truth. Yet, through the quest of finding my truth, I faithfully believe that each hand stitch from this project would help me to transform my guilt to love.
Grief is love !
Of course this one will not be in the show. Like I mentioned before, my hands and fingers hurt so much during the time I worked on this quilt.
I had to stop for few months to allow my fingers healed. Apparently, the pain is less but seem never go away. I think the pain is chronic now. I remembered feeling scared and traumatized associated with this quilt. The memory of excruciating pain already has been woven its invisible layer in the quilt.
Go figure that I cannot run away from either hold on to this pain forever, I need to confront it, some how get pass and move on.
So heck. Go back to the " no pain no gain" .
As the result, for the last few weekends, I have been back sewing and stitching along with watching WWII and USSR on You Tube. The past literally comes back full scale with my grieving for my father/ black and white history film slowly unfolded with new truth that I had never known before.
Wonderful epic experience.
Additionally, I started practicing Qi Gong to avoid practicing yoga which using both hands heavily each pose.
Turned out Qi Gong is GREAT !
The technique of 12 forms of Qi Gong is perfect that I feel I would love to practice everyday.
I have been following few great Vietnamese teachers on You Tube. There is a Shaolin master named Shi Heng Yi that I checked out from You Tube, turned out he is Vietnamese.
I know. One door shut, another door opens !
I am looking forward to get the quilt done by the end of 2025.
Continue to update.
Turned out. I installed all three pieces yesterday.
The curator asked me to hang three since 2 others each has three. I rushed up to finish the border for the last one. It looked temporarily finished for this show. I can continue to finish the poem later.
Here is my part of the show. The result looked good enough. I am happy.
