Sữa Xưa (Milk of Old),
2012
Oil,
acrylic, joss paper and hand stitching on canvas
48 x 36”
Proceeding
Bà Cố Phủ (Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Me, 2012), in both a genealogic and
pictorial sense, this painting is drawn from photos of my mother and
great-grandmother.
Continuing
to explore the idea of abundance, I considered milk and its symbolism. Milk is
the first form of nourishment that is offered to a newborn child, and
represents fertility and God’s blessings.
My
great-grandmother, stoic and strong, prepares for the migration to the “land of
milk and honey”. She holds my dear mother whose eyes fill with wonder and whose
face beams toward a bright future. My mother willingly reaches out to catch her
blessings.
Biography of Artist Trinh Mai
Trinh Mai is an interdisciplinary, California-based artist whose work is driven by innovative narratives of storytelling. Her artistic creations re-imagine personal memories, family roots, and spiritual connections that alter conceptions of our identities and shared histories. Since receiving her B.F.A. in Pictorial Art from San Jose State University and furthering her studies at UCLA, Trinh has exhibited nationally, as well as showing in public and private collections internationally. In addition to exhibiting her work with well-respected institutions such as the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Naples Museum of Art, her passion for intermixing arts and collaboration has inspired her community involvement. She has served as Project Director for the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), Master Teaching Artist for the Bowers Museum, Course Developer for the Pacific Symphony, and Curator at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.
Currently, Trinh is a member of the Artist Advisory Board for The Artist Odyssey (TAO), a global arts network who supports arts education, and an advisor for the Visual Art Program within the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN). Since 2012, she continues expanding her portfolio as Artist-in-Residence for the University of California Irvine’s Vietnamese American Oral History Project (VAOHP), as she brings a visual arts language to help tell the stories of Vietnamese America. Also currently serving as Artist-in-Residence for Cal State Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center, she has developed curriculum and facilitates self-exploratory visual arts workshops for low-income communities of Santa Ana. Trinh has been invited to Stanford University, among multiple other universities, to speak about her work, and has had her paintings and poetry published by Purdue University's Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement (JSEAAEA). Recognizing the role of art to educate and heal, Trinh has exhibited in support of the Friends of Hue Foundation Children's Shelter in Vietnam, the Angkor Hospital for Children in Cambodia, has shown her work at AT&T Park and Union Square to benefit the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, and at Oracle Arena to aid the Warriors Community Foundation in its mission to support education in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her inspirations and journey as an artist have been documented by TAO in the film called “Honoring Life: The Work of Trinh Mai”, winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2016 Viet Film Festival.
To Contact Trinh Mai, please visit her website at Trinhmai.com
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