UPROOT FOR A BETTER LIFE OR STILL A PAINFUL...
HUY TRAN
ARTIST STATEMENT
War never brings anything better for innocent civilians. Most of all, it makes people feel the pain of losing their loved ones. The transformation from one political system to another forces people to leave their country as a unique solution to avoid the trauma. In history, there has been much immigration for political reasons. Those Vietnamese refugees before 1975 who were forced to leave their country were called "Boat People." In historical records, many people died during an evacuation. It is scary that it never vanishes from people's minds each year; some small Vietnamese communities from across the United States remember that day. On top of that, the misery of uprooting is still in Vietnamese minds when they recall the unforgettable days.
With the information above, I want to present this idea as a virtual exhibition in a small gallery to draw attention to this problem in public. Some visuals include colorful origami boats that float in the middle of a furious ocean. Origami boats represent the "boat people" who passed away while fleeing to pursue freedom. Also, a strong-looking "wood trunk" is planted to show how hard it is to turn away from happiness. Lastly, short clips and narratives from real people will be shown in space to make the memory even more striking. I hope my work will convey the meaning of "uprooting" to audiences and serve as a call to action to stop the nonsense wars that keep happening now.
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ARTIST BIO
Born in 1981, Huy Tran is an artist, art director, and graphic designer who works with digital media and is based in San Jose, California. He rethinks how old art forms could be used with new digital technology as part of his research through hybrid mediations. Huy uses different kinds of media to tell stories about semiotics. He looks at how language and expression, presence and immateriality, voyeurism and surveillance, urbanism and hegemony, and other things come together in everyday life. 3D modeling, photography, music video direction, and research are all part of his work. He rethinks traditional ways of making art in the context of digital forms of making things using open-source software. Tran's digital art uses movies and animations to examine how different parts of life are connected. Tran will receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Digital Media Art at SJSU in Fall 2022. Tran attended San Jose State University as a media artist in 2020.
