Tom Bradley International Terminal, pre-security

Dedicated to the ones who are mid-flight in their search.

People often flock to environments that offer greater potential. We migrate for sustenance, for comfort, for respite, for opportunities, for love, for freedom. For those seeking these very things that help to create a fulfilling life, our journey may start at the airport.

LAX is a perpetual hub of movement and human activity. Some of us dart about as we prepare for flight, while others regain our balance upon returning home. For many who are arriving at LAX for the first time with a hope for purpose and great discovery, the city of Los Angeles welcomes us warmly with her abundance of urban and natural wonders.

This mural is inspired by songbirds that call Los Angeles home. The violet-green swallow, the Western tanager, the California scrub jay, the American goldfinch, and the Red-winged blackbird can all be found in the city’s backyards, streets, parks, and skies, their birdsong providing a spirited soundtrack to the city’s daily rhythms. Joining them is the Vietnamese greenfinch, a species native of Việt Nam, and the Silver-breasted broadbill, a native of Cambodia. The variety of birdsong, color, pattern, and beauty stirs an enduring impression of the biodiversity of Los Angeles and a great appreciation for our own unique characteristics and personal histories.

The mural also features an array of drawings, culled from the artist’s collection called Buông Xả Đi, a Vietnamese phrase which describes an exhalation of emotion and thought, a meditation toward letting go. The abstract forms express energy, movement, and change, offering a moment for us to witness the beauty that abounds as opportunities await us on new horizons.

Trinh Mai is a California-based artist who tells the stories of our enduring humanity from a second-generation Vietnamese American lens. Through a breadth of media, she documents the ways in which history dovetails into the present, with a focus on the refugee and immigrant experience.

See links in captions below to learn more about each songbird’s migration patterns, habitat, behaviors, and to listen to each bird’s exquisite call.

trinhmai.com

@trinhmaistudios

Locate this exhibition at LAX using our interactive map.