A R T I S T I C
V I S I O N
‘We Are Here’
From the Photo Essay “We Are Here” Bà Cố, Ông Hạnh, Ông Nghĩa,1938, 10 x 8 THE ARTIST: Through photography, painting and works on paper, interdisciplinary artist Trinh Mai reimagines her personal history, family roots, and spiritual connections to alter conceptions about our identities and shared histories. Mai is an advisor for the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network’s Visual Arts Program. And, since 2012, she has been an artist-in-residence at UC Irvine’s Vietnamese American Oral History Project, where she uses visualarts storytelling techniques to share experiences of Vietnamese Americans. She is also a creative-in-residence for Community Engagement in partnership with Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana. Here, she brings art to diverse underserved communities in the form of “social practice.” Her journey as an artist was documented in the film “Honoring Life: The Work of Trinh Mai.” The film was awarded the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2016 Viet Film Festival. :: trinhmai.com
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THE ARTIST’S INSPIRATION: This photo is from my photographic essay “We Are Here,” a statement whose meaning resonates with me on many levels. One meaning is that “we have arrived” as individuals and/or as a people. Another is that “we are present,” consciously living in this moment. And another meaning, a statement that might come from the perspective our ancestors, is that “we are (still) here.” This piece incorporates a digital photograph I took in Little Saigon on the corner of Bolsa Avenue and Magnolia Street in 2012, where the bustling Vietnamese community gathers for their daily shopping. Layered upon it is a photo taken in 1938 of my great-great grandmother Bà Cõ and her sons. My great-grandmother mothered 12 children and was of the first of four generations to call Orange County home. Using some of my photography, in conjunction with photos from our family archive, “We Are Here” allows relics from the past to find their way into contemporary environments. As told to Brandi Neal