root system is a bio art piece mapping my father's asylum journey during the Vietnam War using bioplastic beads and organic elements that composed his cultural relationship with his homeland.
This work was created for a university undergraduate class, RTA 933: Hacking, DIY and Open Studio, at Toronto Metropolitan University. It was exhibited as part of a group exhibition Broken Molds, held at the Assembly Gallery from October 23 to November 1, 2024, curated by Ashley Lewis and Maryam Shah.
Artist Statement
root system is an ode to my father’s Vietnamese heritage and his journey as a refugee after the Vietnam War. The piece experiments with natural materials and do-it-yourself (DIY) techniques such as bioplastics and papermaking to explore themes of ethnic diaspora, generational trauma, and the lasting impacts of colonialism on the asylum system.
The starch-based bioplastic beads imitate jade jewelry, with each including an element suspended inside significant to my father’s cultural experience, such as: rice grains, dried jackfruit, jasmine-green tea leaves, coffee grounds, dried marigold petals, and an excerpt from a Vietnamese-Canadian newspaper reading, “Về đi anh,” which roughly translates to, “come home, brother.” These beads sit atop a handmade world map, placed in areas where they are native to or culturally significant to the rest of the world. The map uses mint roots to trace the complex, often overlapping asylum routes of how my family and their friends left Vietnam after the war, with a stem standing tall at the beginning point of exodus. These routes include my father’s path: fleeing by boat from his hometown of Gò Công, to being rescued by a Canadian cargo ship after becoming adrift at sea, stopping at Hong Kong before landing in Quebec City. Beyond its prominence in our cuisine, mint as a plant can speak much to the refugee experience: while some say mint spreads way too quickly to easily confine or eradicate, others believe it is a testament to its resiliency and will to survive by any means necessary.
Special thanks to Ashley Lewis and the New Media Makerspace staff for their support from creation to exhibition of this project.