Multimedia artist Dinh Q. Lê (1968-2024) repurposed photographs and documents to address the Vietnam War, its resulting diaspora, and, more broadly, trauma, loss, and the construction of memory. Born in Hà Tiên, Vietnam, his family fled the Khmer Rouge’s incursions in 1978 before settling in California. Growing up, Lê was troubled by the disconnect between the history of the war he was taught in school and his own experience as a refugee. Rather than resolve conflicting narratives in his practice, however, Lê sought to complicate them. Using a traditional technique his aunt taught him to craft grass mats, Lê carefully interwove strips of disparate printed images to create pixelated, dislocated compositions that deny straightforward interpretation.
Source: The New York Times
