Khamphian Vang
Transcendence
When I first started thinking about what I was going to create for this project, a lot of negative feelings came up in regards to anti-Asian racism around COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd, police brutality and violence, anti-Black racism, the rioting, and the vilification of protesters. We've been dealing with all of this on top of a being in a pandemic, and I was exhausted mentally and spiritually.
At first, my ideas were full of anger. I had to take a step out of that space to figure out what message I wanted to convey through my art. There has been a lot of hurt and pain in the community, and I did not want to contribute to that negativity. I decided I wanted to focus on the healing process, renewing the spirit, and building community.
Being around water has always been therapeutic for me. Water has the ability to change shape and transform without losing its essence. It can evoke so many different feelings through its movement and sound. It can also change its environment, cleanse it, sculpt it, and create new landscapes. It is flexible, yet strong and resilient. Water is our source of life. It represents healing and a restoration of the spirit.
My installation focuses on how we experience water and what it means to each of us. With the pandemic, there has been a sense of disconnection with community. I wanted to convey a message of hope and spiritual connection. The swirls in the tapestry represent healing circles and a sharing of our collective sorrows and celebrations. Though we may not be able to come together and share a physical space at this time, I wanted to show that we are still here and we are in this together as a community.
More to Know:
WATER SOUNDS AND INSPIRATIONS
Each sound represents an experience with water. As you listen, let your thoughts fade away and allow the sound to flow within you. Immerse yourself in the experience.
The Waves of Lake Huron
A Walk Along the Mississippi
Coon Rapids Dam
About the Designer
Khamphian Vang is a Twin Cities based designer-artist with a background in theater and costume design. Her work is inspired by love through community and empathy for others. Khamphian approaches each project as an opportunity to elevate storytelling through emotive and symbolic design. For the past ten years, she has focused her work in fashion and has shown in multiple venues in the Twin Cities. She returned to theater with Full Circle Theater Company’s production of Caught in 2019. Her work has been seen most recently in peerless, her first show with Theater Mu. "Khamphian will be the costume designer of the second production of Mu’s mainstage season, Anna Moench’s MAN OF GOD, July 9-25, 2021.
Artistic Response from Kealoha Ferreira
Exploring the many ways collaborations occur and listening to the vital voices of our artists, the Jungle's SHINE A LIGHT pairs participating designers with area artists to create thoughtful responses to the installations. These audio commentaries will be available online throughout the event and add depth for the viewer's experience to help spark expansive conversation.
Be near
listen
show
the movement of Water
weaving
waving
waning
wail
so they can listen and be immersed in it
show
different textures
weaving
circles
being circular
being
healing
being near together
show
the movement of Water
so they can listen and be immersed in it.
We are here
We are here still
Waiho Submit
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"Waiho" means "submit." "Wai" means "freshwater" in Hawaiian; "hō" means "to give or transfer." So "submitting" in Hawaiian literally means "giving in to water."
About the Responder
ʻO Kealoha Ferreira koʻu inoa. ʻO Nuʻuanu kuʻu one hānau. Kū au i ka lōkahi me nā ʻŌiwi o kēia ʻāina Dakota nei a me nā ʻŌiwi o ka honua a pau.
Kealoha Ferreira hails from Oʻahu, Hawaii. An AAPI dance artist of Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Chinese ancestry; she moved to Mnisota in 2011 and began working with social justice dance company, Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT) in 2013. In 2018, she was named the company’s Artistic Associate and Co-Leader of its new space, the Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice. There, she teaches movement classes and leads social justice art making residencies with neighboring schools and youth organizations. Kealoha is a practitioner of Yorchhā, ADT’s contemporary Indian dance form, and a beginning student of Hula. Working at the intersections of transnational feminisms and Aloha ʻĀina land practices, Kealoha commits her artistry and activism to an expansive, complex practice of relationality while remaining rooted in cultural and kinesthetic specificity. She is a 2020 Cohort Artist in Red Eye Theatre’s Works In Progress and New Works 4 Weeks Festival, and will premiere a performance piece made in collaboration with Mnisota based Kanaka Maoli artists in 2021.
About the Videographer:
Darren Johnson is a Minneapolis-based filmmaker whose work over the past 30 years has run the gamut from experimental to commercial to documentary films.