My overarching investigation on text and images consists of compositions that switch from printed images to hand drawn text and embroidered text with painted imagery to reevaluate the framework of fine art and seemingly lowbrow craft. In the series Viet Kitsch: Lacquer Luster, I mix images and texts from my native Vietnamese with adopted American cultures using lustrous paint and other aesthetic references to lacquer art. Romanticized images of Vietnam rural living are mixed with texts that question traditional notions of gender, class, and culture. I’m interested in highly abstracting these words to the point of near illegibility, hiding phrases, and presenting them as ambiguous visual puzzles. Since the answer to each puzzle is provided in the title of each piece, the works aim to reorient the viewer toward issues beyond mere appreciation of surface elements. It is an opportunity to navigate toward deeper dimensions through the mode and code switching of visual and verbal perception.