Series Two is currently in production. The design process began in Kaiping, Guangdong, China when I visited my mother’s hometown in September - October 2024. My first visit was in 2003/4 when I was much younger. In the heat of the July sun, we fed the caged chicken rice grains before it was quietly slaughtered for dinner. Some days, I was left playing pretend with my cousin. And on other nights, I found myself holding tightly onto my mother’s waist, watching the streetlights fly by and the wind comb through my skin as my uncle revved his motorcycle cross town.

Now I have a new collection of memories. This time I had the capacity to imagine my mother’s childhood here, and recognize how connected my grandparents are to the people. Cousins and cousins. Beyond the stories of climbing onto guava trees, eating fruit until she learned how the seeds would lead to constipation. Village celebrations of 200 people. Completely melting in admiration of steamed buns whilst carrying my fully belly. Its texture was better than anything I had before: so soft and delicate, yet holding its smooth, glossy, round shape. A subtle, sweet, grassy taste complimenting its steaming surface and chewy, soft texture. There was even a whole building dedicated to the Huang lineage - I wonder if my grandfather’s name is engraved there.

Kaiping is dedicated to the city itself, and its main pattern is inspired by the plastic red fruit boxes carrying the cases of rambutan. We had taken many trips back after my grandfather’s sister-in-law brought us our first pack from the fruit warehouse. The best rambutan, ever. It was almost magic how perfect they all were, snuggled against each other while wrapped in newspaper. Once we found out about the fruit warehouse, there was no going back. Every morning, mom and I would remind each other about the cold shiny rambutans sitting in the fridge for us. We’d dart up with that sparkle in our eyes and only one agenda: rambutan. Of course it is always mom who would ”overdo” things when she really liked something. Her parents would gasp at the amount of cases she bought, making remarks on how absurd this all was, unfathomable to how she could possibly consume it all before the end of our stay. From the rich redness of rambutan skin to the gentle pink lines of her youth, I felt so fortunate to have know what food tastes like in her hometown and to revisit her yesterdays, together in today.

In-between takes a new direction and breaks away from the patterns used from past designs. There is no center cyclic pattern. Instead, a knot repeats to create a cross-hatching like texture. Elements of pattern repeat in small stampedes amongst themselves rather than along the whole design. Some motifs are alone. Some elements interact and bleed off the border. All the while, the foundation remains: a solid color border, an internal bordering pattern, and repeating corner elements. New organic shapes and line can also be found here: from decor metal gates to ellipses. The sense of movement created from the one-off elements, breaking off the border, and tilled positions suggests a searching or scrappy collaged element. For the first time, elements can be found blurred, disappearing into the background. In-between is a mix of yesterday and today, of old and new, of our pasts and our todays. Even the soft lavender and creme orange background alludes to the setting of a sun, or the dawn to a new day. A place for things to be forgotten, and new patterns to bear a home.

New Rhythms was the first of the three to be conceptualized. A trip to Los Angeles in December 2024, inspired a new element began to appear, and allowed for the design to come to its completion. Pulling patterns from Kaiping, metal gates from San Francisco, and Glendale. Alex and I made our way exploring farms, museums, and Christmas decorations at night. I witnessed a new year’s kiss from a stranger, a phallic rock collection, and a house of intergenerational artists.