Over the Moon

When I was a child, mooncakes were an eagerly awaited gift: a shared delicacy that carried love, generosity, and cultural continuity. That ritual of giving not only nourished, it also created community. The tradition dates back to the 13th century, when secret messages were hidden inside the cakes to organize a revolt against the Mongol dynasty. Since then, the act of gifting has carried a double meaning: celebration and resistance.

My installation engages with that heritage, fusing festive aesthetics with the rigor of repetition. The mooncakes, sculpted and arranged on the floor like a harvest or an altar, evoke gratitude, longing, and cycles of renewal. Their circular form reflects the full moon, symbol of wholeness, fertility, and unity, reminding us of bonds that persist even across distance.

Inspired by my mother’s teachings and the tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the work transforms an intimate gesture into a poetic coded language. Each mooncake becomes a silent message traveling across generations, uniting the hidden and the revealed. In this way, the installation not only celebrates cultural memory, it also safeguards it—inviting us to recognize in the everyday an act of resistance and of love.

Over the Moon 

600 mooncakes sculptures, modeling clay and foam

2” round