In Ly Hoang Ly’s towering installation, Monument of Round Trays, countless round aluminum meal trays stacked like fish scales form a conic-shaped tent. These reflective trays scintillate, bouncing back light and heat, while also creating soft audible sounds in an outdoor breeze or swift movement from an adjacent object or person. Despite its inanimate constructions, it is very much like a living object that interacts with and responds to its environment.

This multifaceted installation piece represents the unyielding strength, tolerance and tenacity of Vietnamese women. While the serving trays represent the traditional domestic responsibilities of a woman, the physical quality of the trays (providing shelter from the elements, reflecting warmth, responsive movements, etc.) signify her durable and stalwart character. More significant perhaps is the emphasis Ly Hoang Ly places on how this modern product is a symbol of the effects of a modernizing Vietnam on women. Although modern technology and trade create more alternatives for women, such options of newer and more resilient products may continue to propagate, and perhaps fetter women to the very traditional roles they wish to change.

A graduate from the Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts University, Ly Hoang Ly is recipient of a Ford Foundation grant, the DTW-NY Award, and honored invitation to an international writing program at the University of Iowa presented by the U.S. State Department. Known for her particularly feminist-driven performances and installations, Ly continues to practice in Ho Chi Minh City, while working and collaborating within the Southeast Asian region and the United States.