Trinh Mai

About the artist

Trinh Mai is a second-generation Vietnamese American visual artist who examines the refugee and immigrant experience, then and now. Through a vast breath of media, she helps tell the stories of we, the enduring People, while focusing on our witnessing of war, the wounds we’ve survived, our collective need to heal, the longsuffering hope that carries us through deep waters, and the custodial responsibility to which we are heirs.

As a California-based interdisciplinary artist whose work is driven by innovative narratives of storytelling, her artistic creations re-imagine personal and inherited memories, family roots, and spiritual connections that alter conceptions of our identities and shared histories.  Since receiving her BFA in Pictorial Art from San José State University and furthering her studies at UCLA, Mai has continued exhibiting with works taking residence in public and private collections internationally. In addition to exhibiting with fine 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.

Artwork

Trinh Mai, Boat Folks, 2013, acrylic, charcoal, hand embroidery, joss paper, ink, and rice bag remnant inherited from Grandmother's fabric collection, 24 x 19 in., private collection