An-My Lê Limited Edition T-Shirts

For over twenty-five years, the Vietnamese-American photographer An-My Lê has been steadily redefining the tradition of documentary photography. Working in distinct series which span years, her photographs often blur the boundaries between the actual and its representation, fantasy and reality, fiction and truth, and embrace performance as a means to explore conflict and war, the military-industrial complex, and national identity through memory and place.

While researching Vietnam War reenactments, Lê stumbled upon a pornographic film titled Gangbang Girl #26 (2000). The film features men dressed up as Vietnam-era American GIs and two Asian women posing as Vietnamese sex workers. She found the set – a replica of a Vietnamese village – to be compelling, seeing parallels with some of her other series that focus on war reenactments. Lê decided to take stills of the film and turn them into tapestries made with cotton and embroidery floss. The series reflects upon issues of violence and power as well as the sexualization of women and race. Lê sees this contemplative handiwork, stitched by herself and her assistants in Brooklyn, as an act of resistance and mindfulness, a powerful slowing down that allows us to explore the construction of gender roles, ethnic identity, cultural history, and memory.