Thương Hoài Trần (she/they) is an interdisciplinary Vietnamese American artist whose immigrant experience informs their identity and creative practice. Their work often incorporates family photographs using processes of weaving and unweaving to help them connect to their heritage and reconcile the gaps and barriers experienced by those in diasporic communities, displacement, loss of language, and generational disconnect. Threads of Offering brings together two bodies of the artist’s work – Ông Bà and Made in Vietnam.
Hoài Trần began Ông Bà, Vietnamese for grandparents, in 2021 to honor and celebrate their family. The series started with depictions of their four grandparents – three of whom have passed away. The artist meticulously dyed every single strand of yarn, wove them into portraits, then pulled out threads, distorting the portraits to symbolize their complex relationships with their grandparents and the fuzzy, painful, fragmented histories and memories that go unspoken. Each weaving stands between 7 and 8 feet tall, towering over viewers in the Ruth and Seymour Landfield Atrium. Their monumental scale evokes the sense of standing in the presence of Hoài Trần’s ancestors.
Threads of Offering, displayed in the Xcel Energy Gallery, is a series of garments labeled “Made in Vietnam” that the artist collected, investigated, and altered. Each object underwent different material interventions, in which they examined its construction, handling, and circulation. In one intervention, Hoài Trần filmed themself disassembling six garments thread by thread over the course of 24 hours and 49 minutes. The footage was condensed into a one-minute video. Their time-compression of this painstaking work offers a critique of the fast fashion industry. This distortion calls attention to the invisible aspects of exploited labor embedded within everyday clothing that is made in Vietnam. The piece doubles as a self-portrait, through which Hoài Trần reflects on their identity and diasporic connection.
Thương Hoài Trần was born in Tây Ninh, Vietnam and raised in Emporia, Kansas. Hoài Trần holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emporia State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. They have been a recipient of the DCASE Individual Artists Program (IAP) and fellowship recipient of the Residency Program at The Studios at MASS MoCA. Their work has been showcased at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, The Center for Craft, Janet Turner Print Museum, and Artist Image Resource to name a few.
Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program; the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Arts Partnership, with support from the Cities of Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo; the McKnight Foundation; the Vilcek Foundation; The FUNd at Plains Art Museum; Giving Hearts Day donors; Spring Gala sponsors; and hundreds of Plains Art Museum members like you.
Thương Hoài Trần, Trần Minh Thảo, 2021, painted warp, handwoven cotton, and metallic yarn, 95 x 42 in., Courtesy of artist.
Tapestry & Painted Warp with Thương Hoài Trần
Monday through Thursday: September 14-17, 1-4 pm
$315 / $252 members
Join fiber artist Thương Hoài Trần for an immersive four-day workshop exploring the intersection of color, structure, and textile craft. This hands-on intensive is designed to welcome weavers of all experience levels — from curious beginners to practicing artists looking to deepen their practice. For ages 18+.
Artist Talk
Thursday, September 17, 5-6 PM, Free
Join Thương Hoài Trần to learn more about their creative process with textiles, weaving, and installation.