Tam Van Tran
b. 1966, Kon Tum, Vietnam
Vacuum, unknown
Collage with paper, ink, staples
Courtesy Asian American Art Centre and Think!Chinatown

Vietnam-born artist Tam Van Tran creates drawings that speak to topics of cultural heritage, Buddhist influences, knowledge transmission, and the influence of technology. Often, his work comments on refugee displacement, which is reflected in his abstract works. Working on a smaller scale than many of his previous works, Untitled collages together staples, drawing, and foil to create an intricate, futuristic abstract form. Untitled was a part of the AAAC’s Eight Annual Exhibition in 1998. The exhibition’s theme was “The Day and Night Transparent” and was curated by Robert Lee, Young M. Park, and Trinh Le. The goals of the exhibition were to highlight the new and innovative ways Asian American artists cultivated their own artistic and material languages.