Meet and hear from artist and illustrator, Dan Lynh Pham!
Dan Lynh Pham is a Vietnamese artist and illustrator in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pham uses a variety of art mediums from watercolors, sculpture, and digital art and illustrations. She completed her BFA in Studio Art at Oklahoma State University. Pham’s work focuses on her ongoing fascination with her identity, socialization, and the construction of culture. Her work aims to redefine what it means to be an Asian American woman.
“My work examines my ongoing fascination with my identity, socialization, and the construction of culture. I was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States in 1994 as a refugee. My family life growing up followed the Confucian family structure, yet I was forced to assimilate to the dominant American culture I experienced outside my household. I want to celebrate the unique experiences I had growing up as a Vietnamese immigrant in a predominantly white community. Many of the things I found comfort in as a child were viewed as exotic or strange by my peers. I seek to normalize these unique cultural elements and educate others. I want my peers to take away a deeper understanding of my culture and the struggles that Asian/Asian Americans face and for my AAPI peers to celebrate and feel prideful about the unique cultural elements that may have alienated us from the mainstream American experience in the past.
My newer work approaches the recent spike in violence and continued racism against the Asian community and how it plays into the history of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. Members of the AAPI community, particularly Asian women, are often expected to meet several conflicting tropes that have pervaded throughout American culture: the docile servant, the exotic sexual object, the industrious worker. However, we are never seen as strong, independent, or commanding. We are expected to perform in the workplace, but are rarely promoted to leadership roles. These depictions of Asian Americans serve to dehumanize us and permit violent and racist acts against our community. My latest work combats these tropes by reminding viewers of our humanity and reclaims our identity as powerful and competent individuals.”
FOLLOW + SEE DAN’S WORK
https://www.instagram.com/danphamit.art
https://stillmill.store/
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