be water, my friend on view from May 11 - June 23
be water, my friend on view from May 11 - June 23
Michael Thế Khôi Trần (b.1997, Ox) is an interdisciplinary artist who resides in Los Angeles/Orange County. He received his BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach. Tran’s work explores his Vietnamese asexual identity introspectively in the setting of a playground. Tran references the iconography of an ox as a self-portrait of a misunderstood self; helpless and ensnared in his playground. Tran collages layers of patterns and repetition in his work to manipulate the spaces within the subject and the background to force tension and vibration. The repeating patterns stem from a vicious cycle where one has to break out, or surrender to the fear.
Michael Thế Khôi Trần
Oxblood
Michael Thế Khôi Trần
Asian Apologies
Michael Thế Khôi Trần
REVULSION
‘Oxblood: Does It End This Way?”
‘Oxblood’ is the second part of a diptych, the first being ‘WISTFUL/WISHFUL.’ In the first piece, I wished as hard as I could for the love I was waiting for. In ‘Oxblood,’ I’m grounded at the end of the slide and realize my wishes fall on deaf ears. I treat this piece like a farewell to my identity in a time where my frustration and my exhaustion has been pushed to the limit. In the first part of the diptych, I wonder and dream of the possibilities safely inside a slide, but a slide only goes down.
‘Asian Apologies’
‘Asian Apologies’ is a self-portrait of self-loathing. In Asian households, especially of the Việt Kiều (Vietnamese people who no longer live in Vietnam), have language barriers with their children who are born out of their home country. Showing affection and being apologetic is not as common as you would find here. To apologize and show affection, mothers will often prepare food or cut up fruits on a plate as a way of saying, “I’m sorry.” I took this idea and thought about how harsh I can be to my body image, and how sometimes I don’t apologize to myself more often of how cruel I am to myself. “I’m sorry I hate my belly and my scars and I don’t like sex.” I never think to apologize to myself, I just cut fruit, and move on.
‘REVULSION’
‘REVULSION’ takes place introspectively like all my playground pieces. In this scene, I’ve lost control of the space and let my emotions rush out. Unsure if I should feel fear, anger, or disgust, I clash and clash at the entrance to my heart’s barrier; a rosy metal ladder with no solid ground, no confidence.