No Star Where (2023) is a series of glove sculptures made from rice paper, a culinary material widely embedded in Vietnam. The works are made from the labor gloves of Vietnamese immigrant workers in Halle (Germany), with whom the artist engaged in conversations during her residency there. Since 2021, Xuân Hạ has developed a sustained practice with rice paper as a medium through which to examine histories of migration and collective memory. Although its origin remains undocumented, rice paper frequently appears in narratives of wartime displacement due to its lightweight, dry, and long-preserving properties. Building upon this historical resonance and the material’s inherent malleability, the artist expands rice paper beyond its culinary function, transforming it into a conceptual tool for generating dialogues on identity, memory, and the fragility of existence.

 

The title No Star Where is a phrase created by Vietnamese speakers and intelligible only within Vietnamese linguistic context that opens two interpretive possibilities. On one level, it evokes a state of a place of no stars, referring to moments of exhaustion and disorientation, when one turns away from the future and from the guiding constellations above. On another level, it is a linguistic displacement of the Vietnamese phrase Không sao đâu (meaning “It’s okay” or “No worries”), embodying the quiet resilience and enduring vitality the artist perceives in Vietnamese communities living abroad. The labor glove – an object of warmth and protection – thus becomes a symbolic form that articulates diligence, perseverance, and adaptive strength, reflecting the subtle yet persistent efforts to survive, work, and build a life within an unfamiliar environment.

 

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Photo Exhibition: by Matthias Ritzmann

© 2023 Nguyen Vu Xuan Ha