About the Cover Artist

Trinh Mai. They Come for Me. 2009. Joss paper and oil on canvas. 40×90 inches.

Trinh Mai's work pays respect to her Vietnamese American heritage, striving to document personal memories and those inherited from her elders. Drawn from intimate experiences of heartache and triumph, of struggle and perseverance, and of loss and fulfillment, Mai's artwork offers comfort and shares the faith that has fostered her during these times. Through her work, she lives the refugee and immigrant experience vicariously through the elders, allowing her to interpret these stories through her own ears, eyes, heart, and hands.

As a form of study and prayer, she absorbs life's joys and hardships, rewriting them as true tales of triumph—also a reminder that out of tragedy are ever born the blessings that we might have never been able to predict could or would come. Her body of work speaks on the healing that occurs while we wade through the circumstances of life, striving to find meaning and look to the passage of time to mend our afflictions.

They Come for Me was inspired by a dream wherein Mai watches herself claim the blessings that pour upon her from an aperture above in a dim grove of trees. On the first panel, the blessings come. On the second, the hand reaches out, ready to receive. On the third, we see gratitude for these gifts.

For a more in-depth experience, please visit trinhmai.com.