Ann Le

What Is My Work About?

Embodiment is a wallpaper rendition of a collective narrative, through the transmission of memory that is not my own, but my mother?s.  It refers to moments during her forced emigration and to iconic events that occurred during the Vietnam War. The wallpaper is my interpretation of those specific events.  A key investigative element of my work is the history and events leading up to my Americanization to answer questions of how, why, and when.  The processes of my lineage?s demystification lead to Embodiment?s explorative depiction of the cultural and political significance of the Vietnam War.  Wallpaper has a close affinity to the idea of ?home? with each digitally hand traced image using specific colors to evoke moments of diaspora.  I devised and created my own template and placed each traced image to create the wallpaper.

Artist Statement

I have focused on the investigation of my family roots, culture and its demystification. Vietnam’s history – particularly the war, and its aftermath unraveled, bearing an enormous spectacle for me to interpret and dissect. A key element of my work is the history and events leading up to my Americanization to answer questions of how, why, and when. Embodiment is a wallpaper rendition of a collective narrative through the transmission of memory that is not my own, but my mother’s. It refers to moments during her forced emigration and to iconic events that occurred during the Vietnam War. Playing on this idea of displacement, each digitally hand traced image in my wallpaper exhibit specific colors to evoke moments of diaspora. My five wallpaper pieces: Rorschach Technique, Mother Refuge, Re-Education Graduation, Cherry Bomb, and Falling Stars & Stripes create my Embodiment series and are depictions of my interpretations of events that unfolded during the Vietnam War, inspired from my parents and sister’s journey into the dark waters of Vietnam, to the refugee camps in Malaysia, their sponsorship to Canada and their final emancipation to San Diego California.

My wallpaper titled Rorschach Technique merges the shape of Vietnam into itself and then cradles the shape of the United States. The shapes of Malaysia and Canada mirror themselves like inkblots, but are also intertwined with Vietnam’s country flower; the cherry blossom. The Rorschach Technique is used to examine a subject’s personality characteristics, emotional functioning and perceptions, which inspired the visual impact of my wallpaper equally named Rorschach Technique. Inspired by the waves of boat people from 1978-1982 and my family’s treacherous voyage, my wallpaper Mother Refuge speaks about my mother’s miscarriage of my older brother while traveling by foot thru shallow waters along a mountainside of Northern Malaysia. The wallpaper Re-Education Graduation is a tribute to my father who was a part of the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) fighting along side with the American soldiers. The wallpaper Cherry Bomb is inspired by a story of the invasion of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) also known as Vietnam People’s Army (VPA). These soldiers took over my mother and grandparents’ small home in the city of Can Tho (three hours South of Saigon), taking up residence for a short period of time. The wallpaper Falling Stars & Stripes is based on the concept and metaphor of fear in dreams. The idea of this wallpaper stemmed from a portrait of my maternal Grandparents. My parents have been separated from all of their family in Vietnam, since their emigration in 1978. Some of our worst fears are of becoming separated from our loved ones; the act of never-ending free falling is a metaphor of fear for me.

My wallpaper significantly narrates my family’s traumatic decision to migrate in search of freedom and allowed me to immerse myself in the history of my native country.   It’s a backdrop that merges the identities of East and West, bonding cultural and political views of the war. By pulling collective memories together, I am transmitting another’s memory, and reconstructing my own projections. This act of revisiting my family’s journey has allowed me to recognize, appreciate and articulate the unexpected gifts that their migration to the U.S. has brought me. The wallpaper cannibalizes identity, digesting collective content, and is also a quiet gesture presenting art in a new form.

CV