Chú Xam, a Vietnamese-American Uncle Sam
When I sat down with Nam for the interview, I already knew that I wanted to combine his likeness with Uncle Sam’s. But it was in talking with Nam that I understood what the personality of this newest incarnation of Sam would be. We went for a more playful Fonzie (from Happy Days) kind of feel. Uncle Sam’s “I want you” pointing became more of a flirtation than a call-to-arms or an accusation.
Nam’s statement about what it means to be an American (something which all the Apple Pie subjects are contributing) only pushed me further in this direction.
To be an American is to…
- Be Patriotic and to love your country with all your heart
- Love your family and friends and your neighbors, and don’t forget to love yourself!
- Love and care for each other regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, etc…
- To love and to be loved! That’s what it means to be an American
- Last be not least, don’t forget to love April 15th!-Nam Ngo
I am proud to be an American—that is one of the reasons why I am making Apple Pie—but I don’t think in terms of “love” when I think of my country. This statement was, for me, a real eye-opener, and I knew I had to honor it in the painting itself. That’s why Chú Xam says “I want you to love my country.”
After I’d primed the canvas, sketched the image, and washed it, I sewed an eyelet heart to Chú Xam’s sleeve.
Putting down some proper colors.
Establishing the colors.
Figuring out the background and text. I also introduced an orange pigment into the composition here.
Gwenn Seemel
Chú Xam (Vietnamese-American)
2008
acrylic on canvas and eyelet
36 x 24 inches
(detail below)
(3) Comments: Chú Xam, a Vietnamese-American Uncle Sam
I love this rendering of such an old familiar, and as Gwenn points out, accusatory image from our culture. And the message is a beautiful one. Here in the U.S., we tend to be ignorant about places beyond our national boundaries.
Having traveled in glamorous cities in Europe, I related to the message in this piece a bit differently. Viewed so often as an “ugly American”, I often wanted to blurt out, “but you don’t really know America! You only know about our ghastly politics!” I deplore the policies of my country, but I love my country. Nothing felt better than returning, after a year in Spain, and noticing, my first night back, the sheer wild diversity of a random crowd on the street. I was home. This is the country, after all the countries that I’ve seen, that I love the most.
It felt like a loss to me that so many people would never know what I know and love about my country.
Nancy Griffith puts it this way in one of her songs:
The heart of any town
Is the people that you’ve known
They’ll always call you home…
It’s not the geography Nam wants me to love. This Uncle Sam-Nam is asking me to love his Country. For instance, ask him a question about it sometime. Notice.
Provocative piece.
I have had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with many immigrants to the U.S. Growing up in comfortable home, in a comfortable neighborhood, I took what our country offers for granted until I was allowed to see our home from the perspective of my friends from abroad. When Nam says he loves his country, I know he doesn’t mean a geographical point. Ask him about life in Vietnam and I bet you’ll understand, too!
Homager X said...
Get real, how can one be proud of geography that one doesn’t own.
--- -- - --- - ---- - - --- ----- -- -What a goofy painting; bet it didn’t sell.