VIETNAMESE WOMEN
Illustration · AAPI Heritage Month 2023
Too Asian for the U.S. Too Americanized for Vietnam. For a long time I didn't know where I belonged.
This piece was created for Về Quê Nhà: Coming Home, a Vietnamese Artist Showcase for AAPI Heritage Month 2023. It's the most personal work I've ever made. A visual love letter to the in-between place I've learned to call home.
Every element is intentional.
The large W at the center is actually V and N combined, Việt Nam, forming the word Woman.
The butterfly wings are made from traditional Vietnamese flower tile patterns, a reminder that growth doesn't erase your roots.
The gánh hàng rong, the street vendor baskets, represent the invisible weight Viet women carry: the expectations, the validation-seeking, the constant balancing act.
The lotus, the Hoan Kiem Lake tower, the plastic stools, the pho. Each one a piece of a place I will always be from, even as I keep becoming someone new.
The in-between is not a gap. It's where I live. And it's colorful.
