Pair of Tread Bottles 2023. Porcelain, cobalt.

18 X 18 X 63 in.

"Pair of Tread Bottles" mimics the patterns of a vertical stack of tires. The patterns may initially pose as a primitive design, blurring a perception between traditional and industrial aesthetics. The surface decoration is hand-painted cobalt and the bottle forms are that of traditional Vietnamese vessels. The conflation of traditional Vietnamese ceramics with industrial tire patterns compares Vietnamese craft labor to the industrialized labor of the rubber industry that has operated within Southeast Asia for over a century. These vessels encourage the viewer to find "traditional" beauty within industrial forms while questioning the qualities and labor that characterize industrial and craft objects. Additionally, these bottles stand as an artistic reclamation of industrialized Vietnamese labor - labor that has historically been exploited, unrepresented, and undervalued.