Please note that the Zoom URL will be emailed to participants a day before the event.
Join artist Phung Huynh and LA's "Donut Princess" Mayly Tao in a conversation moderated by curator and historian Erin M. Curtis as they explore the history of Cambodian immigrants in Los Angeles, refugee trauma, and legacies of building community and identity. Focusing on Cambodian-run donut shops in LA, they will also consider the changing role of these spaces as the city confronts gentrification, housing insecurity, police violence, and a global pandemic.
Mayly Tao is a first generation Asian-American who owns DK’s Donuts & Bakery and Donut Princess Los Angeles. Her self-proclaimed title of being the Donut Princess has led her to be featured on the Food Network, Great Big Story, LA Times and more! She took her family’s legacy and turned it into her own with her mastery of social media and established the shop as a world-famous location.
Erin M. Curtis is a Los Angeles-based historian and curator who currently serves as a member of the founding curatorial team of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Phung Huynh is a Los Angeles-based artist and educator whose practice is primarily in drawing, painting, and public art. Her work explores cultural perception and representation. Huynh challenges beauty standards by constructing images of the Asian female body vis-à-vis plastic surgery to unpack how contemporary cosmetic surgery can create obscurity in cultural and racial identity. Her current work of drawings on pink donut boxes explores the complexities of the refugee experience in Southeast Asian communities.