Phasao Lao’s History series is a rudimentary chronicle of his Hmong clan and its familial provenance. Each panel includes a black border of motifs that symbolise ‘spirits’, and an outline of different ancestors or leaders in red, the colour of strength and courage. But whereas oral and pictorial histories are more commonplace in Hmong culture, Lao has embroidered Lao script onto the fabric, placing significance on the posterity of both his artwork and his Hmong clan.
