​​She Bloomed at the Dead of Night #2, 2020 by Mai Ta (b. 1997 | Serious Art

​​She Bloomed at the Dead of Night #2, 2020 by Mai Ta (b. 1997)

Gouache on watercolor paper
13 × 9 in; 33 × 22.9 cm

"Ever since I came to America, I’ve always felt like an alien. I’m too Vietnamese for American people, and too American for Vietnamese people. Even though I was born in Vietnam, I often felt alienated whenever I came back during my school years. And since my experiences are so very different from that of the Vietnamese-American community, I felt excluded from them as well. I’m existing in the middle, and I’m screaming for a country that I love yet don’t belong in.

But the good thing about going to art school in NYC is that I’ve met people who share the same experiences as me. Existing in between, and making art to celebrate our cultures. I’ve been lucky enough to have made friends who understand my thoughts and what I strive to do and pushed me to pursue them further."
― M T