Hmong Veteran is from the artist's "Attention" series, created between 2012 and 2014. The series features portraits of Hmong veterans who fought the North Vietnamese in Laos' treacherous landscape as part of the Secret War. Following the war, many of these soldiers immigrated to the United States, though their service is still unrecognized.These veterans honor each other's service by attending self-organized meetings at informal spaces, where they come dressed in uniform and decorated with honors they purchased themselves....Her modeled each picture on tropes from military portraits in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The series title "Attention" refers to the call that is proclaimed when an officer enters a room occupied by enlisted personnel or cadets. This is the first work by Her to enter the Art Center's collections.
Source: DMAC NEWS, Sep Oct Nov Dec 2022
Published ReferencesRiddle, Mason, and Louise Erdrich. "Migrating Societies". Telemark Art Center, 2015, Skien, Norway: 14
Riddle, Mason. “Minnesota Artist Exhibition highlights the cross-cultural and the unseen.” Twin Cities Daily Planet, May 20, 2015. http://tcdailyplanet.net/minnesota-artist-exhibition-highlights-the-cross-cultural-and-the-cross-continental/
Addullah, Abdul, and Pao Houa Her. “Guest post: Addul Addullah and Pao Houa Her | double interview by Loredana Paracciani.” performingborders, July 14, 2018. https://performingborders.live/interviews/guest-post-abdul-abdullah-and-pao-houa-double-interview-by-loredana-paracciani/
Valentine, Ben. “Upending Clichés About Nationhood, Asylum, and Living Through War.” Hyperallergic, June 11, 2018. https://hyperallergic.com/434498/upending-cliches-about-nationhood-asylum-and-living-through-war/
Image (visible): 49 5/8 × 39 5/8 in. (126 × 100.6 cm)
