Ukraine war evokes painful memories for San Jose artist now fundraising for victims
In San Jose, 6,000 miles away from Ukraine, Trieu Dao can still feel the pain.
Dao has been a landscaper for nearly 40 years. By now, the work is second nature.
"I work with my hands, but my mind is also working," said Dao.
The images from the front lines in Ukraine evoke anger, despair, and disgust. The one thing Dao refuses to feel is helpless.
After a full day's work, this 68-year-old puts down the leaf blower and picks up his most powerful weapon in the fight against dictators and authoritarian regimes - an artist's paintbrush. He often paints well into the night.
"I think about everything I need to do, good things I need to do," said Dao. "And I hope people are thinking like that, and do like that."
Dao escaped communist Vietnam by cramming into a boat with his family in the mid-80s. They spent nearly a month adrift in the ocean with little food and water. He resettled in America with nothing, but somehow found a way to put four kids through college.
As a refugee of war himself, the bond with Ukrainians is strong.
"They lost everything. They lost relatives, brothers, sisters, family," said Dao. "I feel very hurt. People in Ukraine look like us."
And so, after half a century of work, Dao is putting on what is perhaps one of the most consequential art shows of his not-so-secret life.
Dao has completed about 1,000 paintings, but one of them is special, a work titled "Peace for U." It sold for $1,200.
"I know the thing I do is very small, but I want to put my hand in there to help people," he said.
The proceeds from that painting, along with 20% of the total sales, will be donated to a nonprofit, Nova Ukraine.
"We raised up to $3,740," said Dao. "For Ukraine. "I feel so good. I feel so good."
Dao's experience makes him a firm believer one person can make a difference in the world.
"If everybody does good things together we will have everything changed," he said. "Life will be better for the future."
Dao's art show has been extended one more weekend. You can see it all day next Friday Saturday and Sunday, June 3 to the 5th, all day, at 199 Martha St. in San Jose.
