Trinh Mai

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Paper :: Works on Paper Overview :: Drawings Mẹ Ơi (Dear Mother) For We Are Called to Freedom War Wounds Buông Xả Đi Beauty Marks When We Became Trees Bone of My Bone In This Place 40 Days Has September Third Eye
Projects :: Projects Overview :: Memories of Magnolia Still Quiet A Willing Sacrifice Things Hidden Seed Flesh of my Flesh You, me, God, and Goliath That We Should Be Heirs Fear Not. Together. Ba Ơi (Dear Father) War Wounds Bone of My Bone Depth of Fields Biển, Biến, Biên (The Ocean, to Vanish, to Note) Begins With Tea We Are Here Family Tree Environmental Renderings Made of Clay
Public :: Public Art Overview :: We the Propagators It Came as a Joyous Daybreak Arise. Shine. Thy Light is Come. Tea. Time. All Phở the Love Take Flight With Eyes Turned Skyward Looking into Future, Remembering Past These are the Times (In progress) There is Healing for Us (Forthcoming) Blessèd be the Peacemakers (Forthcoming) After the Good Day's Work (Forthcoming)
Partnership :: Partnership Overview :: Broken, Tattered, Healing, Whole Doubt Not. Open Peace be to this House A Place We Call Home Float Plenty As One Born Among You Long Beach Chorale & Chamber Orchestra Seeking Sanctuary A Time to Heal I Breathe With You Generations of Stories Treble | Tremble Heninger Village Community Commissions Call to Participants Wisdom Literature Love Letters
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Trinh Mai

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Trinh Mai

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Paintings by Trinh Mai

Trinh Mai

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Paintings

Reaching for Things Unseen , 2016, Oil and hand embroidery on canvas, thread, and stone, 49 x 72” When we think about the things that are the most invaluable to the human spirit, we might find that the things we seek are often those things unsee

Reaching for Things Unseen - detail

Reaching for Things Unseen - detail

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2019, oil on canvas, 60 x 72” I began this painting shortly after my sister, Kelly, passed in July 2017 after seven long years of battling cancer. She was thirty-seven. Throughout it all,

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us - detail

Gathering Light, 2019, oil on canvas, 47 x 72” Collection of P.Q. Phan and Anvi Hoang, Bloomington, IN It may be that one of the most extraordinary opportunities in life is also one of the most difficult—to arrive in a place of darkness, and so

Gathering Light - detail

How long until they fade, 2022. In memory of Jenny. Acrylic, hand embroidered thread inherited from Bà Ngoại and Bi, joss paper, and oil on canvas. 36 x 48”. Collection of L. Johnson, Long Beach, CA While examining our scars, we might ask ourse

How long until they fade, detail

How long until they fade, detail

Then are the Children Free, 2023, oil and thread on canvas, 48 x 60”. Commissioned by Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. T. Tran and L. Cartwright, San Jose, CA. A prayer for the ones who are suffering.  Ba

Then are the Children Free, detail

Bà Ngoại (Grandmother) , 2011, oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48” Collection of Dr. Tin Do, San Francisco, CA Often emphasizing the importance of compassion, forgiveness and empathy, my grandmother is one of the loveliest individuals I have e

Mất Nước, Nước Mắt (Loss of Country, Tears) , 2011, mixed media and hand stitching on cardboard, 45 x 32” This portrait of my great-great-grandmother reflects the agony shared by those who have experienced the loss of their country or the oppr

Mất Nước, Nước Mắt (Loss of Country, Tears)  -  detail

Má Cured in Việt Nam , 2010, acrylic, ink, oil, collage of Vietnamese newspaper on cardboard, 20 x 28" This portrait of my mother at age seventeen honors her various personalities – the nurturer, the friend, the provider, the free Spirit and th

For All the Blessings , 2003, oil on canvas, 48 x 48” Collection of Mrs. Huy Mai, San Jose, CA My family fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975. In faith, they left their homeland in order to begin a new life in America, with the desire

Bà Nội Của Mẹ (Mother’s Paternal Grandmother) , 2011, mixed media on canvas, 12 x 10”

Bà Cố Ngoại (Mother’s Maternal Grandmother) , 2011, mixed media on canvas, 12 x 12”

A Prayer for Anh Đức , 2010, Oil, acrylic and hand embroidery on canvas, 48 x 48” I recognize the gallant soldiers of past and present who have sacrificed their lives in battles for Freedom. From the South Vietnamese soldiers who stood their gro

A Prayer for Anh Đức - detail

Hồn Mình Hơn Mình,  2012, Oil and hand embroidery on canvas, 48 x 48” Since antiquity, the laurel wreath has been a powerful symbol of victory. Here, my belovèd husband, exhausted from all that he has had to endure, wears the laurel wreath

Study of a Young Girl , 2010, mixed media on canvas, 24 x 24” Collection of Dr. Tin Do, San Francisco, CA

Study of a Young Girl - detail

What Is To Come , 2006, oil on canvas, 48 x 36" This piece derives from a time that I observed my husband sitting for a long moment in a still contemplation. He had just returned home to us after serving time in federal and immigration detention

Sữa Xưa ( Milk of Old ), 2012. Oil, acrylic, joss paper and hand stitching on canvas, 48 x 36” Collection of P.Q. Phan and Anvi Hoang, Bloomington, IN Proceeding Bà Cố Phủ (Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Me, 2012), in both a genealogic and picto

Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Me ( My Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother ), 2012, Oil, acrylic, joss paper, ink and hand embroidery on canvas, 48 x 36" Inspired by a photo of my great-great-grandmother that I found impeccably preserved in my gra

Let Us Be Vessels , 2009, Oil, latex, and joss paper on canvas, 48 x 72" (diptych) Honorable Mention, Lauritzen-Rush Gallery, Marco Island, FL As I reflect upon my substance, I find that the answers most often come when I am willing to ask quest

Vượt Qua Rào Cẩn ( Beyond These Walls ), 2008, oil, latex, and joss paper on canvas, 48 x 60". Collection of Mrs. Claire Keery, Marco Island, FL A young girl peers out from behind the wall. She knows there is much awaiting her. This painting

Even In Darkness , 2008, Oil, latex, and joss paper on canvas, 60 x 72" During the winter of 2006, my godmother sat at the dining table, practicing her Vietnamese calligraphy. With rice paper amassing upon the table, she patiently dipped her bam

Thirty Days , 2006, oil on canvas, 48 x 48”, diptych In 1975, my family found refuge on a Vietnamese naval ship while the communist regime invaded South Vietnam. After weeks at sea, the engine of the ship broke down. My grandparents and their c

During the Silence , 2007, acrylic, joss paper, and oil on canvas

For All The Women , 2007, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 48” Human beings are the most adaptable, resilient, and powerful creatures.  Among them are the Women – the nurturers. This painting was inspired by a survivor of domestic violence. For

On Our Way , 2007, mixed on canvas, 48 x 60” Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher and Susan Ausschnitt, Naples, FL This image, painted on a collage of joss paper (handmade paper traditionally burned in prayer in Vietnamese and Chinese cultures

Feeding Her Joy , 2003, oil on canvas, 48 x 60” A self portrait of me feeding Bà Ngoại ‘s (Grandmother) koi fish. My grandmother loves tending to her koi fish pond and takes great pride in her garden. From time to time, she will eat lunch ou

Remember , 2003, Oil on canvas, 48 x 30” Collection of Mr. Paul Nakada and Mrs. Christine Hoang, San Francisco, CA With a bag in hand, a mother holds her son before sending him off to the new land. My grandparents were originally from Hanoi, pr

Together , 2011, mixed media on canvas, 24 x 12”  Collection of Mrs. Deanna Reposa Newport Beach, CA Three children hike through the jungle, searching for their way. Although their destination is undetermined, they continue on their path p

Down the Current of Tradition, 2011. Oil, acrylic and thread on canvas, 40 x 30". Collection of Jorge Camunas, New York, NY By examining my lineage, I find that I can more thoroughly investigate my life and better understand how it as been prop

With Childlike Faith, 2011, collage and oil on canvas, 60 x 48” Collection of Q. Tran, Redwood City, CA Every autumn I glorify the ginko leaves whose brilliant golden puddles spill upon our street - a seasonal reminder for us to shed our wither

One Stone at a Time , 2011, mixed on canvas, 72 x 49”. Collection of P.Q. Phan and Anvi Hoang, Bloomington, IN. I marvel at the wisdom of the birds. My lessons in persistence I learn from the swallows. Male and female swallows make over 1000

We Find Strength , 2008, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 48” Because koi fish swim against the stream, they symbolize strength in times of adversity. In times of struggle, I learn to trust my faith, and realize the infinite resources that I have av

They Come For Me , 2009, Joss paper and oil on canvas, 40 x 90”. Collection of Mr. Patrick Probst and Mrs. Jocelyn Wong, Charlotte, NC Dream documentation on November 20, 2007: With treetops sheltering me, I wander through the grove in search o

Above All Things , 2003, oil on canvas, 54 x 54” Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Ella Stewart, Venice, CA In painting this piece, I considered the most valuable things to me in life, none of which are tangible- my love for God and people, my

Abundance , 2004, oil on canvas, 30 x 48” Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Christine Hoang, San Francisco, CA I find comfort in considering the abundance that we’ve been granted. As we sew a seed, we promote life. And as we nurture that seed, we assis

And There Is Light , 2003, oil on canvas, 54 x 54" At times, it is easy for us to succumb to the negativity that the world may suggest, whether it be through circumstance, through the action of others, or through our own insecurities. This pai

Among Us , 2003, oil on canvas, 54 x 54” Collection of Mrs. Jamie Ross, Naples, FL Beginning as an abstract representation of an interior (a painting studio in which I spent countless hours), this painting evolved into a window into the spiritua

I Am , 2004, oil on canvas, 60 x 72” Collection of Mr. Tin Do, San Francisco, CA I am. A recognition that all that I am, all that I will become, and all that I have the potential to be is a gift. As I am made in the image of my Creator, in the s

Hạ Long Bay , 2004, oil on canvas, 72 x 60” Red sails guide a ship from east to west in Hạ Long Bay, located in the northern region of Việt Nam. The reflection in the water is clearly defined, as is the dream of opportunity in the new land.

The Courage Within , 2006, Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 One of the most fascinating elements about abstract art is that who we are, composed of all our experiences, will influence what we perceive. My dear cousin, who witnessed the war in Việt Nam as

So We Meet Again , 2011, Oil on canvas, 30 x 24" Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Nakada and Christine Hoang , Healdsburg, CA It continually amazes me when Life brings me full circle. I find that every revisitation of an idea promotes greater

Someone Else's House , 2003, oil on canvas, 24 x 24" Collection of John Waggoner Gallery, Naples, FL No. 1 of a quadriptych that describes the life of Jesus. He was born in someone else’s house (the place where the barn animals slept). He died

Someone Else's Boat , 2003, oil on canvas, 24 x 24" Collection of Susan Ferner, Gilroy, CA No. 2 of a quadriptych that describes the life of Jesus. He was born in someone else’s house (the place where the barn animals slept). He died for someon

Someone Else's Sin , 2003, oil on canvas, 24 x 24" Collection of John Waggoner Gallery, Naples, FL No. 3 of a quadriptych that describes the life of Jesus. He was born in someone else’s house (the place where the barn animals slept). He died for

Someone Else's Tomb , 2003, oil on canvas, 24 x 24" Collection of John Waggoner Gallery, Naples, FL No. 4 of a quadriptych that describes the life of Jesus. He was born in someone else’s house (the place where the barn animals slept). He died f

All images and content copyright © Trinh Mai unless otherwise noted.