The story tells of Princess Huyen Tran of the Tran Dynasty in Vietnam, a woman bound by destiny. As part of a political alliance, she was married to the King of Champa. After his death, according to Champa law, she was to be immolated alongside his other queens. She was rescued by the Vietnamese court. Later in life, she became a Buddhist nun.

To portray her, I invited an actress to sit as a model, to capture not just a historical figure, but the inner presence of a woman facing an extraordinary fate. She is seated on a traditional chair, in a deep green robe with a hollow void at its center, still, resolute, and confronting the viewer.