This project weaves together two intertwined Eastern philosophical pillars: the tea ceremony principle of ichigo-ichie (“one time, one meeting”/ 一期一会), and the Zen Buddhist tenet Honrai Muichimotsu (“originally, nothing is possessed”/ 本来无一物).

My conceptual foundation for ichigo-ichie was deeply influenced by my 2025 short film Dak Haan Yum Cha (得闲饮茶), in which I staged an improvised tea ritual on a public beach in Dubai. Through unpacking tea utensils from a luxury handbag and performing a fleeting tea ceremony within a transient landscape, I became increasingly aware of how rituals create fragile moments of intimacy that can never be repeated in the same way. The work revealed to me how temporary encounters, gestures and atmospheres gain emotional significance precisely because of their impermanence.  Later, a serendipitous reconnection with the photograph I took in 2023 of my parents participating in a tea ceremony in Kyoto anchored the project within the Zen Buddhist principle of Honrai Muichimotsu. What had once seemed to me as a decorative scroll phrase gradually acquired profound personal resonance following my family’s cross-border relocation. It evolved from a poetic backdrop into a meditation on release, impermanence and the acceptance that no experience, relationship or possession can ever be fully held. Together, these philosophies frame my inquiry: ichigo-ichie honours the singular, unrepeatable quality of every encounter, while Honrai Muichimotsu reminds us to let go of the urge to cling to those moments, exploring meaning through absence rather than preservation.

Guided by the restraint and mindfulness of traditional tea culture, I centre quiet transformation within everyday dining rituals, structuring the work around four paired transitional states: pre-meal and post-meal, pre-serving and post-serving. I employ lenticular prints as my core medium to materialise this dual philosophy visually. Unlike static photography, lenticular technology embeds two-layered images on a single surface, which shift and unfold only as the viewer moves. Circling the work slowly, audiences observe subtle shifts from prepared order to quiet emptiness, from ritual setup to its gentle conclusion—an interactive visual metaphor for the fleeting singularity of ichigo-ichie, paired with the “letting-go” ethos of Honrai Muichimotsu.

The installation is staged as a tea-room-inspired corner, anchored by tatami mat flooring and hanging-scroll-style framing to evoke the slow, intentional ritual of tea practice. The lenticular medium and immersive spatial design compel deliberate, unrushed viewing, merging classical tea ceremony aesthetics with responsive photographic technology. Ultimately, this work invites viewers to embrace the transience of time: to fully inhabit the unrepeatable magic of ichigo-ichie encounters, while finding peace in the Zen truth of Honrai Muichimotsu, discovering beauty and presence not in holding onto moments, but in honouring their gentle passing.