Christian Ðinh

The installation Thread of Fate combines two works, Hỏi sin and Rooster. Together, they evoke the experience of the Vietnamese-American restaurant table, where hoisin and sriracha sit side by side on the lazy Susan. Their pairing reflects the history of phở’s migration to Southern Vietnam, where sweet and spicy condiments were incorporated into the broth to enhance its flavor. Within the diaspora, this tradition evolved into the ubiquitous pairing of commercial hoisin and sriracha sauces found in Vietnamese-American restaurants today.

Hỏi sin is a series of panels based on the patterning of the hoisin sauce bottle. Its purple label has become an iconic element of Asian-American visual culture, immediately recognizable through collective experience. The label’s motifs resemble classical Chinese lattice and border patterns, which are echoed through the staggered arrangement of the panels. The interlocking purple ground creates geometric forms associated with traditional decorative motifs. One motif, the wàn symbol, literally associated with ten “thousand” and carries associations of abundance, and good fortune, while another resembles an auspicious cloud, symbolizing continuity, eternity, and enduring fortune. Together, these motifs inform the idea of an “eternal bond” between the two works.

Rooster is a porcelain sculpture inspired by the graphics of the sriracha bottle, displayed on a green and red pedestal that references the product’s bold colors. The sculpture draws from the traditional Vietnamese padauk wooden rooster, historically used to ward off evil spirits and negative energy. By removing the rooster from its original medium and context, the work explores the misinterpretation, adaptation, and repurposing that often occur within the diaspora experience. This act of transformation reflects the resourcefulness and adaptability central to the Vietnamese refugee experience, as well as the ways subsequent generations reinterpret and carry these cultural forms forward.

Thread of Fate is an iteration of Christian Đinh’s Phở Combo series, which magnifies the spaces and experiences of Vietnamese-American restaurants, focusing on the iconography and shared visual language of establishments founded by the refugee community and now woven into the cultural landscape across the nation. As these restaurants gain popularity and evolve over time, the familiar aesthetics of the Vietnamese-American refugee experience inevitably shift—whether for better or worse. This body of work serves as an archive of that visual language, preserving the imagery and identity that the Vietnamese refugee community made iconic.

The table written in stone

Revolves infinite patterns, drawn into my gaze

My eyes become my father’s and his father’s

Our hands turn the same wheel

A bamboo forest, when we arrive

Harvested, torn, snapped in two

Always replenished when we return

The forest teaches us

“Tuck under thumb and hold firmly”

The wheel turns

A spoon that holds longevity

Carrying the secret to long life

Back and forth from water to body

Ten thousand years with each bite

The wheel turns

White, hot on red

Green left on the vine to ripen

Fire crushed, bled and bottled

Tamed only by the sweetness of Earth

The wheel turns

A bridge sits over the slow, black river

Spills, honeyed and brackish

Sugar kissed by flames

Twins on the turning wheel