My work begins with what others have left behind-documents unearthed from flea markets and discarded boxes. Drawn to these found artifacts, I see not just images but invitations: chances to explore how memory survives without context, and how art can restore intimacy to what feels anonymous.
As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, I grew up with few family photographs. The visual record of our history was erased by war, loss, and displacement. In its absence, I've developed a deep connection to images left behind by others-photographs once held close, now orphaned by time and circumstance.
By stitching into these images, I attempt to honor and reimagine them. The tactile presence of thread disrupts the stillness of the photograph, asking viewers to pause, look again, and engage with the lives within. Though I do not know the people pictured, their expressions speak of emotions we all carry: tenderness, grief, resilience, joy.
Each embroidered piece becomes a quiet act of remembrance and reinvention-a meditation on what it means to belong, to remember, and to be remembered. In a world where so much is forgotten, I hope my work offers moments of recognition and connection, stitching together a shared humanity from the fragments we find.