SOUTHERN EMS by Regina Dao + Nic Annette Miller + Đan Lynh Phạm

Southern Ems Explores Migration Story and Family History of Three Local Artists Through Multimedia Works

Southern Ems

by Regina Dao, Nic Annette Miller and Đan Lynh Phạm

OPENING: 5-8pm, Saturday, April 5, 2025

THRU Saturday, April 26

Gallery hours during the exhibit:

Thurs, 6-8pm; Fri, 5-9pm; Sat, 12pm-5pm and by appointment.

More info: linktr.ee/positivespacetulsa

Southern Ems is a three person exhibition by Vietnamese American artists that uncover their migration story over a 50 year span. For the semi-centennial anniversary of the Fall of Saigon (April 30, 1975), artists Regina Dao, Nic Annette Miller (Nguyễn), and Đan Lynh Phạm have curated and created works that reveal a shared connection of their family’s homeland in Southern Vietnam to the South of the United States off of Route 66.

From the perspective as ems (little sisters), both familial and reflective of Vietnamese pronoun positioning, the artists explore their personal journey and family history through their various fields of craft and artistry in ceramics, paper sculpture, printmaking, video, and installation. Positive Space will serve as an exploratory space for intergenerational diaspora and will uncover narratives of a historic past that impact and intersect in Tulsa today. This project is supported by Thrive Grants, which is an initiative of Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

About the Artists: Regina Dao is a self-taught, queer, Vietnamese American artist and a first generation Asian American born in Seattle, WA, before her family settled in Tulsa, OK. Dao is an emerging artist, using critical history and personal narratives to retell ancestral roots while uncovering evidence of her own artifacts of collective memories in queerness and identity, through writing, archival photographs and ceramics.

Nic Annette Miller is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in printmaking, design and multilingual storytelling. Her art practice explores environmental themes and the intersections of multicultural relationships through public installations. Miller’s community project, NAM common, expands on the Vietnamese diaspora through art and media. In addition to her studio and freelance work, Miller is an active teaching artist and co-founder of LoLoLook, an organization dedicated to elevating Sign Language programs at cultural institutions.

Đan Lynh Phạm is a Vietnamese interdisciplinary artist and illustrator. Born in Vietnam and raised in Tulsa, OK, Phạm’s work blends graphic elements with Vietnamese art traditions, guided by an analytical approach to art-making. Her practice acts as a visual diary, intertwining 2D and 3D media to explore themes of identity, socialization and her lived experience as a refugee.

Positive Space Tulsa is located at 1324 East 3rd Street in the Pearl District. Positive Space Tulsa was founded by local artist Nicole Finley (she/her). An art space dedicated to Womxn artists - the first and only in Oklahoma - Positive Space Tulsa believes: The letter “x” in Womxn recognizes all women, including gender expansive identities. Positive Space Tulsa is for women, nonbinary, genderfluid, genderqueer, and agender artists (excluding those who identify as male/men). Womxn is pronounced the same as woman or women.

Host or Publisher Positive Space Tulsa