Kôgábinô is a double mistranslation of Vietnamese English and sanitised alter-moniker for the recurring motif of ‘Vomit Girl’ in Mai Nguyễn-Long’s practice. This character is a visceral metaphor for diasporic trauma and the artist’s inquisitive and ongoing negotiation with the sometimes messy edges of histories, cultural identity, and family values.
Featuring new sculptures and familial objects, Nguyễn-Long creates nuanced
and layered landscapes drawn from her academic studies, personal experiences, and memories. Grounded in the materiality of clay, Nguyễn-Long’s sculptures invoke the power to transcend restrictive paradigms.
Mai Nguyễn-Long, Vigit Hefeco 6 (no balls in hands) (detail), 2023, smooth terracotta fired to 1120, 46 × 26 × 19cm. Typology: Vigit Hefeco = Vomit Girl as Heroic Faeces Collector. Photograph: Bernie Fischer. Courtesy the artist, Michael Reid, Sydney/Berlin and Wollongong Art Gallery, New South Wales
Wollongong Art Gallery
21 October 2023 to 7 April 2024
New South Wales
