There is a quiet vibration within the ordinary that Bay Area artist Khoi Pham seeks to amplify, pushing past the surface of familiar objects until something unexpected emerges.
For Matter of Time, the name of his first solo exhibition, Pham installed over ten artworks that remained on display at Two Two until May 11th. The opening reception featured a show-specific audio sculpture by Sab Mai (@bodega.superstar) and bites by Cyn (@sea2sea.co). Beverages were provided by local winemaker Fred Z (@ywale.wine).
Often printed on aluminum, each piece begins with a camera, isolating fragments of the physical world. Then through drawing, digital distortion and reconstruction, these fragments were stretched beyond their origins.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I was 12 when I started working at my dad's photography studio, tucked into a small plaza between a liquor store, a Denny's, the world's first Chuck E. Cheese, and a motel. The plaza was worn down by the sun, and the unhoused people in the parking lot would occasionally step inside to ask my dad for cigarettes.
Customers varied, from families in pressed clothes, to teenagers celebrating quinceañeras, to sex workers posing for ads. They stepped in front of the backdrop, adjusted themselves, and settled into a version of themselves as they wanted to be seen. The photographs were clean, composed, and distant. Whatever laid just beneath the surface stayed there.
I think about that space often. It was where I first noticed the distance between what was visible and what was carried. The stories stayed with the person, just out of reach, while the image fixed something simpler in place. Over time, those unseen parts began to feel more present than what was shown.
My work grows out of that distance. I return to ordinary objects and fragments of everyday life, drawn to what they might hold beyond what they show. What feels familiar begins to turn uncertain, like a memory held onto for too long.
Khôi Phạm
April 4, 2026