Artist Statement
Refuge
Refuge explores my intersectional identity as a queer person from a Hmong diaspora. Drawing from traditional Hmong imagery, mainly woven tapestry known as paj ntaub along with my upbringing, I transcribe my personal experiences onto a narrative historically and canonically closed off to queer people within the Hmong community. This message is embodied through my medium of choice. I use oil paint to mimic the threading, colors, and symbolism present within the Hmong paj ntaub. The academic tradition of oil paint stems from a Western cultural supreme, which is historically isolated to the hegemonic hierarchy. By using paint to resemble Hmong imagery, I occupy a space that simultaneously subverts the perceived grandeur of oil as the status quo while elevating Hmong culture to a fine art. I deliberately reinterpret the Hmong visual language through self-portraiture as a means of renegotiating my relationship with my culture in context with my queerness. Utilizing memories of growing up with Hmong media and cultural narratives, I examine the taboo connotations and erasure of queer people in the community at large. Within the classical lexicon of art and culture, where do I find myself within the framework of my people’s recorded visual history, that of which I have been written out of entirely?
