Vietnamese American artist Loc Trinh reconnects with his roots through ceramics, shaping culture, memory, and identity into every handmade piece.
The wheel hums softly as Loc Trinh leans in, hands steady, eyes fixed on the spinning form before him. Clay gathers under his fingers, rising and folding, responding to pressure in ways both subtle and exacting.
“There’s just that sensory experience to clay that I really love,” he said. There is something grounding about working with your hands. For Trinh, it is also something else. A way back.
But in the studio, the work is immediate. Physical. Unforgiving. Clay does not respond to shortcuts.
“I really just wanted to make something tangible,” he said, “and create and express myself differently. ” A vintage family photo captures a group gathered outside Tan Son Nhat Airport before departing Vietnam in 1993. Trinh was born in Hoi An, Vietnam, a port town known for its centuries-old architecture and lantern-lit streets. It is a place shaped by history, but for much of his life, it existed more as background than influence.
Rows of colorful lanterns fill a small shop in Hoi An, lighting up the street with vibrant patterns and hues. In recent years, Trinh has begun to revisit those early memories. Not as distant images, but as material for his work. A vintage family photo captures a group gathered outside Tan Son Nhat Airport before departing Vietnam in 1993.
His ceramics now carry traces of the life he grew up with. The food, the rituals, the quiet details of home. Small bowls of bánh bèo are served on a metal tray, topped with savory ingredients and accompanied by dipping sauce. The forms are simple, but intentional.
Objects that echo function while holding something more personal. I started bringing that into my work by creating these little dishes. Loc works at a pottery wheel inside a quiet studio, surrounded by shelves of clay, tools, and half-finished pieces. Elsewhere, his pieces take on a different influence.
Sculptural vessels, carved and ribbed, recall the lantern festivals of Hoi An, where light spills into narrow streets and across worn facades. From the studio to the farmers market. Loc Trinh shares his handmade ceramics, each piece shaped by memory, culture, and a connection to his roots. And bring that little part of me into my work.
That shift did not happen all at once. Growing up in the United States, Trinh said, there was a quiet pressure to fit in. To smooth over differences rather than highlight them. Food, language, and culture often felt separate from the version of himself he presented to others.
Broad Studios Club House , a local ceramics studio, he joined artists from a wide range of backgrounds, all working with the same material but arriving at it from different places. But our aesthetics are drastically different based on where our influences come from. The process itself resists speed. Clay demands patience.
It collapses if pushed too far, too fast. It requires attention, adjustment, and often, failure. A motorbike passes through a lantern-lit street in Hoi An, glowing with warm reds and yellows against the night. It is going to get messy, but that’s the fun part.
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