Broken Leaves, Broken Rice with Simon Tran

Nestled into a corner of the Fischbacher Fine Arts Building, Kondos Gallery intrinsically feels like a hidden gem. Now adorned with the ink and jewel-toned acrylic paintings of artist Simon Tran, Kondos Gallery embodies this feeling as it presents “Broken Leaves, Broken Rice:” A Solo Exhibition with Simon Tran.

The exhibition opened on Tuesday, Sept. 2 and continues through Thursday, Oct. 9.

In a statement on “Broken Leaves, Broken Rice,” Tran described the references layered into his paintings, “different aspects of garden, family history, and nostalgia of my youth are referenced in the work,” he wrote.

For early childhood development major Salina Vang, this was the first exhibition she’s seen on campus. “I think it’s really cool,” she said, “how art can be expressed in so many different ways.”

Almost mirroring Tran’s statement on the “spontaneous, meditative marks” that start his painting process, Vang commented on the linework throughout the exhibition, “that’s part of art,” Vang said. “It’s just kind of like, go with the flow as well.”

Beyond the natural symbols and memories of his parents’ backyard, Tran said his experience being a child of parents who immigrated to America from the Vietnam War influences his art.

Through organic and serpentine visual motifs, Tran translates this history with magical realism and tells another story of what it means to be an American. His series, “Children of the Python God” in ink on gessoed panels, draws reference to a resistance movement in 1930s Central Vietnam that emerged after the daughter of a village chief was said to have given birth to a python — an incarnation of the python god.

On Thursday, Sept. 20, the artist visited Sacramento City College for a public reception and lecture.

Jen Stract, an instructional assistant at City College who attended UC Berkeley with Tran also spoke about this influence. Stract, who attended the artist lecture, recounted the elements of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in the series and recommended visiting the exhibition twice — once for first impressions, and a second time with the lens of chemical warfare on a cellular level.

Speaking on the usual procedure of artist’s lectures following an exhibition, Stract described the value of these lectures for student, “I think that’s another valuable a little bit of insight for students to know,” she said, “Like, ‘OK, this is what it took for me to get to this place. Like, I started out at community college, I did this and this and this, I transferred, I kept making art and, yeah all this hard work paid off at some point.’”

A former student of Long Beach City College, Tran recognizes the importance of city colleges in providing access and creating community for artists.

“Being around cool people making cool artwork is something you look forward to,” Tran said.

Acknowledging the difficulties city colleges can have with resources, Tran stressed the importance of empathy for students building community.