Ascension (2021) continues work from an earlier work Pillars of Civilization (2018), inspired by the pedestal ruins at Persepolis examining ancient form and contemporary industrial materials, in this instance looking specifically at the influence of Hindu-Buddhist aesthetic form as it becomes interpreted in Southeast Asia and by the Cham civilization in Vietnam. Three clay figurative sculptures are mounted upon iron beams with concrete bases. It is also a critique of monumental form - where many monuments throughout the world are seen from afar and below - creating distance and an uncomfortable relation between viewer and the subject.

It is one of four new sculptures made specfifically for the exhibition, Within/Between/Beneath/Upon at the Factory Contemporary Art Center in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring three artists (Phan Thao Nguyen, Le Hien Minh and Richard Streitmatter-Tran) curated by Bill Nguyen and Van Do running March 13 - June 6, 2021.