vũ t. thu hà: the sea

4th Floor Gallery

the sea | vũ t. thu hà

For artist vũ t. thu hà, the sea is not a place of tranquility . the ocean, for me, has never been a scene of serenity and peace, nor a place i go toseek such things. it’s always been my greatest fear.

Born in Vietnam, vũ t. thu hà left abruptly in 1983. Her family , like many others,sought refuge from political persecution after years of French occupation and the

Vietnam War. Nine years old, she traveled with three of her siblings ages 11 to 15, and 35 strangers on a fishing boat whose motor was dying. She did not know how to swim.

After the second night the boat’s motor finally died, leaving the passengers to drift.

After 4 nights and 3 days of watching an unbroken horizon line, they were rescued and brought to a satellite refugee camp in Indonesia. In May 19 84, the four childrenwere placed in foster care in Charlotte, NC. Her parents and remaining siblings eventually joined them in the United States.

thu hà left North Carolina after college and came to the Bay Area to pursue film and photography. She still does not know how to swim. In 2012, under going big life changes, thu hà began to go to the sea virtually daily—to encou nter her greatest fear, and to make a photograph. As we look at the images we can almost hear the ocean and feel the wind sweep past our skin. Yet like much of the artist’s work, the resounding quality is an unyielding, relentless silence.

These photos are from her ongoing series.