Khanh Phan

The Taboos

Class of: 2027

Major: Communication Design BFA

Medium: Pencil on Paper

Faculty: E. Ivan Rivera

Prompt: For this project, we need to create a Still Life drawing from direct observation that conveys a larger story/meaning.

This piece of drawing was based on the idea of taboos in Vietnam, things that people considered as giving them bad luck. For example, Vietnamese people avoid putting the chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice because it resembles the image of the incense on the altar; or people consider that if they slipped on a banana peel, it would be a bad day for them. Vietnamese also avoid putting any flowers with thorns and oranges on the altar on special days.