Ngoại ăn, Ngoại có sức khỏe, is a durational performance that was an act of devotion and a desperate attempt to learn lost language through the repetitive act of walking and writing. As my grandma's sudden illness struck my family I found myself grieving my inability to speak to her, to ask her simple questions like: what did you dream about last night? My ability to understand Vietnamese fluently but my struggle to string together words posed a large divide between us, one that I thought I would always have time to overcome. Faced with the realization that I may never be able to ask the questions I had or understand her I began to take long walks, walking in circles contemplating the words I did know. I began to teach myself how to write and read Vietnamese, starting with the phrases I was saying most often like, are you cold? Are you hungry? Please eat so you will have strength. These words were written in English and then translated into Vietnamese, I decided to walk on the canvas reading the words until they were imprinted into my mind and faded from the canvas through the walking. This performance was 3 hours.

Ngoại ăn, Ngoại có sức khỏe
12'x12'
Porcelain and cyanotype on canvas
2024