I see my work as a witness of the times, reflecting contemporary events through a personal lens, troubled and unstable. I am haunted by death and destruction. Those who wrestle with moments of death, what were their stories? The desperate fight and struggle to merely exist reflect the behavior and origins of a people; and then we witness the personal tragedies of those who just want to exist. I can not to fix anything. I can only hope for their salvation and a better future for all.
This exhibition “The silence is deafening” inspired by Rachel Carson’s “The Silent Spring”, that I created during a time of darkness for humanity. Pandemic, war, poverty, oppression, displacement, dispossession and those seeking refuge.
The deaths are of the defenseless, the powerless, the voiceless. Those of us who remain, live in social isolation, apart from loved ones, from nature.
“The Silence is deafening” collection in 2020, which I created based on the event where 39 Vietnamese people were found dead in a refrigeration truck, while being smuggled into England. To change their lives, they traded with their lives. In this work, I collected old, damaged zithers that can no longer produce sound. Using lacquer painting technique to depict the natural landscapes that humanity are experiencing and their lonely struggle. The 39 zithers, once can sing their song, now arranged in rows as in a graveyard. The songs are now just a hint, an memory and the suffering is hidden in the silence.
Sometimes the silence is deafening, sometimes silence is the only voice we have.

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Exhibition: 13 Nov 2020 – 08 Jan 2021
Vin Gallery
No 11 Street 55, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh city

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