“Vietnam has not really dealt with the war. There have been novelists who have written on the subject but there is very little open public discussion. The war is always glorified but its reality is horrific. The need to move on has bypassed dealing with the psychological impact the war has had on the generation that experienced it.

It was only recently that the government decided to deal with the birth defects caused by Agent Orange. Nobody wanted to talk about Agent Orange yet you could see people on the street suffering from obvious birth defects. Since 1999 there have been programs to help them and their families so you don’t see them begging on the street in the same numbers as before.”

The work was inspired by Lê’s hearing about incidents in rural towns where conjoined twins are revered as special beings with the power to protect and bestow luck. The figures in this work bear a direct comparison with temple sculptures. The multiple arms and legs suggest the physical form of some Hindu gods while their position atop lotus blooms refers to Buddhist iconography. In fact, Lê commissioned craftsmen who usually work on temple sculptures to carve these works under his supervision. Lotus Land proposes a reversal for those suffering from deformities caused by Agent Orange—instead of being shunned or ignored by society, they should be honored for their suffering.