FLUX 2021 - Diana Tran

Email: diana.tran@hotmail.ca
Instagram: diana.tran.artcareer

Diana Tran is a sculptor and illustrator based in Kitchener-Waterloo. Her practice focuses on creating narratives, inspired by her familial past through the usage of figurative tableaus. She uses historical photographs, ephemera and her own personal family photos as points of reference in creating her work. As of recent, she has been especially interested in learning about father’s experience as a Vietnamese boat refugee, and using clay and dioramas to reconstruct those memories.

Artist Statement

Carry what You Need incorporates historical references of the Vietnamese boat refugee crisis with biographical elements from my father’s own experiences. Suitcases are very intimate items- not only do they contain personal belongings, but stories as well. Even though these refugees could only carry what they needed (the bare essentials), when they escaped Vietnam, certain emotions and memories could never fully be left behind.The violence of the Vietnamese war left refugees, including my father, with a lot of trauma and “emotional baggage” in which they were forced to carry.

My piece uses a vintage suitcase as a symbol of transience and as a vessel that portrays some of these memories. The focal point is a hand-constructed wooden fishing boat. These types of rickety, old boats were commonly used by Vietnamese refugees when they embarked into new countries. The bottom of the suitcase contains my father’s own immigration papers, his passport, a photograph of when he first settled in Canada, and clothes from that era-which he still wears to this day

Interview

How have your lived experiences informed your artistic practice?

Being the child of Vietnamese refugee parents has strongly informed my artistic practice. Though, this hasn’t always been the case. I used to separate this specific experience from my art because I was too afraid to approach it. It wasn’t until last year that I began to seriously explore it. I think creating art around this has helped me heal a lot, and has given me the opportunity to process and express feelings that I otherwise wouldn’t know how to talk about or bring up. 

What does your work aim to say?

My works are personal reflections of my experiences as a second generation Canadian of immigrant parents. I hope my work can evoke a sense of solidarity for those who come from similar upbringings. For viewers who may not be able to fully relate, I want to bring some insight into what it is like to grow up in that type of setting. 

What made you want to pursue art? 

Since I was a kid, I was discouraged from making any sort of art. Paper and any sort of drawing utensils were hidden away from me. Looking back now, I can understand why. My parents grew up living in a third-world country with very little education. The trope of the “starving artist” was especially scary for them, because they themselves experienced poverty.

By the time I was in highschool, I tried so hard to suppress my enjoyment of art. For some reason though, in my fifth year, I decided to take an arts class in secret. It was then that I was able to find my love for art again. My art teacher in highschool, Mr. Kekish, is the reason I chose to enrol in fine arts on a post-secondary level. I felt so lost, and I think he could sense that. The fact that he reached out to me, to this day, still means so much to me. He encouraged me to at the very least take a few fine arts courses in university, and to never fully abandon art.

I will be going to Nipissing University for teachers college in the fall and will be specializing in visual arts and French. I hope to be able to provide the same level of support and care that Mr. Kekish gave me to students who also consider pursuing a fine arts education.