Artist Phung Huynh Captures the Donut Kid Experience
Cambodian American artist Phung Huynh pays homage to the second-generation “donut kid” experience in her latest solo exhibition, “Donut (W)hole.”
In an article published on KCET, Carren Jao writes about LA-based artist, Phung Huynh, and her upcoming exhibition “Donut (W)hole”. In the show, Phung Huynh renders seven donut kid portraits printed on pink donut boxes printed by Dewey Tafoya.
“Pink doughnut boxes are so cute and so fun, but it stinks because all these Cambodians had to flee their country, live here and remake their lives working in doughnut shops,” says Huynh. “Donut (W)hole” expands on Huynh’s earlier body of work portraying first-generation Khmericans on pink doughnut boxes using graphite pencil. A refugee herself, Huynh could relate to many of her subjects’ experiences of hard work and persistence. Huynh’s father fled the Cambodian genocide and eventually relocated to the United States from Vietnam with his family, but not before spending some time in a Thai refugee camp. Through her parents, Huynh witnessed the trials of starting all over again in an unknown place with no previous connections to rely on.
Inspired by the sweet flavors of doughnuts, Huynh and Tafoya employed inks in hues of caramel, ube and blueberry. Huynh also added literal depth to her prints by layering a dotted image of them as children over their adult portraits. “I wanted to create this relationship of their past and how they grew up with their current portrait — who they are now,” says Huynh.
Click the link below to read the full article at kcet.org.
The Donut (W)hole show opens this Saturday, March 12, 2022, and will run through May 27 at Self Help Graphics & Art at 1300 1st St. Los Angeles, CA.
