Today we’d like to introduce you to Trang Quỳnh Thị Vũ.
Hi Trang Quỳnh Thị, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Hong Kong in a refugee camp and my family moved to the States in 1998. We settled in Fort Worth, TX, which felt like a strange place compared to overseas. Our family was extremely poor when I was growing up and my parents always stressed the importance of an education and becoming successful. However, success to them meant to become a doctor or teacher.
I always felt out of place since I was one of the only Asians in my elementary school and began to feel out of place within my family as I always had a big imagination, and my dreams and ambitions were bigger than the ceiling my parents created for me. I didn’t have a lot of support with my artistic aspirations and felt smothered with my parents’ overprotectiveness as I was the only girl.
We moved to Arlington, TX in 2004 and that’s when things shifted in our household; My father began drinking a lot more and became verbally and physically abusive. When I was in middle school, he was arrested and for the four years he was in prison, I found freedom. I found a DSLR in my parents’ room; it was my father’s. I figured since he wasn’t there to use it, I would play with it. I fell in love with photography right away.
I was in Yearbook Club in middle school & high school and took a Photojournalism class. High school was when I began taking self-portraits, which would later lead to creating stop-motion shorts and accelerate my love for film and cinema. I was able to practice different photography techniques and create art with myself as the subject. I called it “self-portrait therapy” and posted my work to Flickr, where I met other photographers online. I was also lucky to have a teacher named Rodger Dewberry in high school who supported my interest in photography. I didn’t know anyone my age at school who had the same artistic interests as me so it was refreshing and exciting to find a whole world of artistic souls.
My sense of freedom was short-lived when I found out my father was getting released from prison. My mom and brothers seemed excited to welcome him back but I was apprehensive as I knew his abusive tendencies wouldn’t have changed so quickly. I ended up calling the police on him a few months after he came back during a drunken and belligerent night. I ran out of the house afterwards and because I wasn’t home, the police weren’t able to do anything and left. He took away my cameras as punishment and I lost my motivation for my art.
I moved out as soon as I turned 18 with a guy I’d known for six months. This guy would be six years my senior, would turn out to be an abuser whom I was with for almost four years. I had escaped an abusive household only to get into an abusive relationship. This relationship would affect me negatively in many ways.
I was in Poetry Club at TCC Southeast and that helped me maintain some form of artistry. I had been writing poems since I was 9, and it was another artistic aspiration that I enjoyed. However, my abuser would tell me how my poetry was “depressing” and my self-portraiture was “narcissistic,” and I found that I no longer enjoyed creating art. My world felt grey and empty for years.
Once I finally found the strength to leave my abuser, I moved out on my own for the first time as a broken girl, unrecognizable to myself. I was severely depressed and attempted suicide. I picked myself up and told myself this was not how my story was going to end, so I had to face my reality and fill in the gap of those four years I’d wasted trying to fit into someone else’s mold. My mission from 2016 was to rebuild myself and find self-love.
The main thing that got me through my depression was poetry. I began attending open mics after Googling things to do in Arlington. My first open mic was at The Dock Bookshop in Fort Worth. I felt like I had finally found a group that supported me. I say this all the time: Poetry saved my life and allowed me to heal, be vulnerable, and share my story. I learned of an open mic in Arlington hosted by a woman named Annika Michelle at the venue Fusha’s and that’s when I met local artists who were close to my age.
From 2017 on, I have been a part of the wonderful Arlington Arts & Music Community. I began taking my camera to these events and slowly fell in love with photography again. I met amazing and talented artists who would become my friends and supporters. I also met my fiancé, Patrick Pombuena, a local musician for Artemis Funk, Bar Stool Brothers, & PPCO at an open mic event.
Through the connections and reputation I’ve built, I am currently a host and coordinator of RVC Open Mic and launched my businesses, Trang Vu Productions and DreamWaves Productions, which I co-found with Damian Price who is a fellow photographer & videographer. I’ve been featured on several of my musician friends’ albums for my poetry. I also have a podcast called TAPE THIS in which I interview local artists. And most recently, I published my first poetry book called “Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso,” which is available on Amazon. The book is a collection of poetry from the past decade and showcases my journey through love.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road to get to this point. I mentioned a lot of struggles, but the biggest one I would say was the lack of support I felt from my family and friends. I was very underestimated growing up as an Asian girl; there was a certain perception or stereotype people were trying to force me to be, even if they didn’t realize it. I was called a “dumb Asian” because I was not good at math or science, which is a stereotype of school subjects that Asians are supposed to excel in.
My parents had an idea in their head of what they wanted me to be: intelligent, sweet, reserved, docile, friendly, etc. These were traits they thought a girl should have if she wants to find a good husband. However, I grew up with two brothers and was interested in what my brothers liked, specifically video games, and I picked up my brothers’ traits.
I felt like I always had to hide certain parts of myself because of all the times I was called weird. For a short time in school, I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. It wasn’t until I found my love of photography and found something that I was actually skilled at that I began to feel like I could be myself. I also reconnected with my childhood best friend, Sharon Mainya, whom I’ve always been able to be myself with. She was one person who supported my early years of poetry.
Luckily, I’ve always had an intrinsic stubbornness and rebellious attitude that I didn’t let others’ negative opinions get to me too much. When I became more aware of myself and who I wanted to be, my goals and dreams became clearer. I still, however, struggle with impostor syndrome every now and then.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a photographer, videographer, podcaster, poet/spoken word artist, event organizer & producer, and published author. It’s a mouthful, and I try to focus on one thing at a time but sometimes I can be working at an event where I am hosting, performing, and taking photos.
I have two things I’m most proud of with my work: one is working with my business partner, Damian Price a.k.a. Apollo-Sol, for his music video for “Still Do” in which we did a stylized short film featuring our friends and released it for a private viewing at AMC Theaters in the Parks Mall in Arlington, TX in December of 2019. The night of the music video release, Damian and I announced our partnership for DreamWaves Productions.
The second thing I’m most proud of is my first Trang Vu Productions event, Aldilà, on July 16, 2021 at the BlackBox215 in Arlington, TX where I had my book signing event for my poetry book, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. I hired Apollo-Sol, Igimèjí, Artemis Funk, and Justin King to perform live music; I hired Frio Live Productions to make sure the audio was great for the night; I hired Chef Dee Catering to have food for the guests; I hired a full bar; and I hired Damian Price to film and take photos. The event was sponsored by Precision Press Printing & Graphics. Dakota Jimenez of BlackBox215 helped tremendously also.
I think what sets my personal and professional brand apart from others is that I strive to support local artists. With Trang Vu Productions, I want to help local artists build their brands and receive the proper recognition and pay they deserve. My tagline for Trang Vu Productions is “where your soul shines” because I believe in strength in vulnerability and being able to showcase someone’s soul through my work. For artists, our art and creations are pieces of our souls.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is when my mom came to pick me up from school in kindergarten. She was pregnant with my little brother—I remember her baby bump vividly. She signed me up for chess club, which I initially hated, and would wait outside until we were done. She and I would walk home from school and we’d have to go under a bridge through a short sewer. The smell is something I still remember. Some days after school she’d take me to the thrift store or the dollar store and let me pick out one thing. In this particular memory, she and I did what I called “treasure hunting” where we’d walk home and collect toys that kids would leave on the sidewalks and take them home so I had some toys to play with.
Another great memory I have is back in second grade at Alice D. Contreras Elementary when my first friend I’d made, Erika Ibarra, gave me a Christmas present. The kids got to go to another room to look at presents they could purchase, similar to a book fair, and since we didn’t have money or knowledge of American customs, I had no idea what Christmas was. Erika and our other friends when to go buy some Knick knacks and I stayed in the classroom by myself. When they came back, they were all showing each other what they’d purchased and Erika saw me alone and decided to give me an angel necklace that she had bought. My family didn’t really do presents growing up so when I receive gifts from people, I really cherish it—not necessarily because of the item, but the thought and consideration behind it.
I also want to mention another important memory: I was a sophomore at Summit High School and extremely hard-headed and pessimistic with a majority of my freshman year being spent skipping classes, in an alternative classroom, or making up missed classes with after-school detention. We had our first day of school and I was in World History and filled out a survey that our teacher, Mr. Rodger Dewberry, printed off. It had questions like, “What grade do you expect to make in this class?” I laugh thinking back on my answers: “As long as I’m passing, it doesn’t matter. School is not a determinant of intelligence.”
Mr. Dewberry called me back after class to talk to me about my answers and asked why I answered it in that way. I gave him my I-thought-I-knew-everything-
When Mr. Dewberry saw my DSLR that I would bring into class, he would talk to me about Photography as he is also a photographer. That was the first time anyone had taken an interest in my interests and I felt some sense of support with my artistry. Later, I opened up to him about my situation at home as I felt like he was the only adult that treated me like a person and that I could trust. I never forget how having him as a teacher really changed my life and outlook on life and I always make sure to credit him when I can. Thanks so much again, Mr. Dewberry!
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10001479790227
- Instagram: Instagram.com/dreamwaves.productions, Instagram.com/trangvuproductions,
Instagram.com/trangquynhthivu, Instagram.com/tapethis.tqtv, Instagram.com/rvcfw - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0CCtqEPdzMt9Lhf2tOS6os?si=pFQJmEX0SxKWO7VzG05Bkw&dl_branch=1
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0979R6Z8F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CPXZCZQG0J4CKT1TN1KH
Image Credits
Chris Waggoner, Paul Knudsen, Damian Price, Trang Vu, Mr. Chin
