I take what objects the environment presents to me, and when paired with one another, they construct a narrative that stems from my second-hand experience with the Vietnam War. For instance, blue packaging from shipping containers paired with wood suggests the buoyancy of a boat traveling on water, or the bright orange tip of a pipe suggests the violent nature of my mother’s journey to sea.
The physical appearance, material, and growth of the piece are heavily influenced on the geographical location in which it is made. I often think about how we, as humans, are malleable by our environment. In return, the notion of being able to relocate under free will becomes significant. Traveling to various locations is a means of reassessing what alter ego could have been formed if my family would’ve taken refuge elsewhere. My physical pieces act as the embodiment of this alter ego, the past combined with the present, and the “could have been.”