This is an homage to “miss sugar cane” or Cô Mía, a beloved but mysterious character found on sugar cane juice carts all over Viet Nam. It is said that before these metal carts leave the factory, there is a resident sign painter that slaps on some fruit and this lady, drink ready in hand. Newer carts are wrapped in blown out images of neon sugar cane, so it was always refreshing, pun intended, to find the original carts still trucking around—no matter how weathered.

I made my first Cô Mía for “But Where Are You Really From?: A Showcase Celebrating Diversity in Sign Painting”, an art show I curated at Mule Gallery in July 2018. I had so much fun creating this layered piece that I painted another one when I was invited to “Cut it Out: A Showcase of Hand Painted Cut-Out Signs” at Electro Pepper Gallery in Chicago, Illinois later that year.

She had become a muse for me to experiment with woodworking techniques, painting styles, and a comforting reminder of my time in Viet Nam.

When my mother's restaurant was hurting during the pandemic, I wanted to reintroduce Cô Mía but smaller and as a raffle to raise funds to help. I played with the illustration style some more and made ten different colored pieces to give more people a chance to take one home. Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared about the raffle, and continued to support the restaurant — because in the end we were able to raise $6000 for Mong Thu Cafe!

July 2018 — Aug 2020