MY GRANDPA ONCE TAUGHT ME
HOW TO FLY A KITE

A collection explores memory, craft, and sustainability through bamboo, paper, and reclaimed wood. Building on earlier chapters of Huang’s 2024 collection Lost Stories, where found furniture was reimagined to honor material histories, this series turns inward, drawing from the designer’s childhood memories in southwest China.

Beginning with color studies on Kozo paper-abstract impressions of blossoms in the night, goldfish gliding through quiet water, and faded film stills preserving fleeting moments-these painterly gestures evolve into lighting forms that echo traditional kite and lantern-making.

Motifs of butterflies, swallows, and mountains-symbols deeply rooted in Chinese folk art-emerge as sculptural lamps. Shades are crafted from bamboo and Kozo paper, painted with mineral pigments and ink, and sealed with shellac, a natural resin secreted by insects. Each lamp rests on bamboo poles and stone-like bases assembled from 19th-century salvaged architectural wood sourced in New York City.

Balancing air and weight, softness and structure, the series embodies memory, material reincarnation, and a dialogue with sustainability, framed not only as the reuse of matter but as the preservation of spirit, cultural heritage, and story.