Huamo, the traditional steamed flower bun from Northern China, is both food and ritual, offered to mark birth, housewarming, weddings, longevity, and funerals, these key life milestones. This thesis traces huamo's cultural roots, explores its rich visual symbolism, and reinterprets it through contemporary design practice. Across five chapters, the project moves from ethnographic research to material experimentation, culminating in five acrylic sculptures, each representing a distinct ritual. Through laser-cut form, color, light, and spatial arrangement, the work transforms huamo's handmade warmth and symbolic language into a contemporary visual system—one that honors its origins while imagining how rituals might continue.
Huamo: Ritual in Layers
Hanxiao Zhou
Acrylic Components Assorted
Five Ritual Sculptures
Representing birth, housewarming, wedding, longevity, and funeral. Each form integrates symbolic elements and Chinese characters specific to its ritual context.
Five Ritual Sculptures Lighting Detail
Colored acrylic under directed lighting, casting layered shadows that extend the symbolic forms.
Birth Ritual Sculpture
Inspired by the full moon, this yellow acrylic sculpture symbolizes welcome, protection, and hope for a newborn. Featuring “福” (blessing), pomegranates, and Buddha’s hand, it draws from huamo traditions that encircle life with layered care and generational connection.
Housewarming and Business Ritual Sculpture
Based on huamo customs for housewarming and business, this orange acrylic sculpture channels wishes for momentum and prosperity. Featuring “發” (to prosper), fish, and a rabbit, it reflects the folk phrase “九鱼一兔，越住越富” (nine fish and one rabbit bring growing fortune) and the upward energy of thriving beginnings.
Housewarming and Business Ritual Sculpture
Based on huamo customs for housewarming and business, this orange acrylic sculpture channels wishes for momentum and prosperity. Featuring “發” (to prosper), fish, and a rabbit, it reflects the folk phrase “九鱼一兔，越住越富” (nine fish and one rabbit bring growing fortune) and the upward energy of thriving beginnings.
Wedding Ritual Sculpture
Featuring “囍” (double happiness), lotus pods, and pomegranates, this red acrylic sculpture draws from wedding huamo traditions that center on reciprocal exchange. Symmetrical and interlocking, the form reimagines union as shared rhythm, offering blessings for connection, continuity, and care.
Longevity Ritual Sculpture
This green acrylic sculpture draws on birthday traditions honoring elders. Featuring “寿” (long life), pine leaves, and a peach, it interprets longevity not only as age, but as lasting vitality and connection across generations. Inspired by idioms like “松鹤长春,” the form stretches outward like growing branches, evoking strength, grace, and renewal.
Funeral Ritual Sculpture
Inspired by mourning traditions, this blue acrylic sculpture centers on the character “奠” (offering in mourning), surrounded by chrysanthemums and cloud motifs. Drawing from huamo practices of quiet remembrance, it honors the departed with calm, layered forms that suggest breath, return, and a reverent farewell.
Sculpture Detail – Ritual Symbols and Colors
A close-up showing symbolic elements across all five ritual sculptures. Pomegranates, rabbits, peaches, fish, and chrysanthemums intertwine—each shape cut in colored acrylic, layered and illuminated to highlight shared motifs across life stages.
Five Ritual Sculptures with Shadow Projection
The five ritual sculptures—birth, housewarming, wedding, longevity, and funeral—cast layered shadows on the wall, echoing huamo’s ritual presence at family tables and ceremonial spaces.
Exhibition Overview
An installation view of the three central sculptures—Birth, Wedding, and Funeral—framed by projected shadows. This narrative arc invites viewers into a visual journey across life’s pivotal transitions, held in layered color and ritual symbolism.
As part of the exhibition’s ceremonial layout, each sculpture was paired with a tilted text panel and spotlight, allowing shadows to extend beyond the object. Here, a viewer engages with the Wedding sculpture, where acrylic forms and text meet in luminous reflection.
Breathing Shadows
Soft and overlapping, the shadows of huamo sculptures drift across the wall like afterimages. Visitors described seeing dragon heads, horns, and shifting faces—forms I never designed, but they emerged through light and movement. One person said it felt like “watching the piece breathe.”
Ritual in Reflection
Through layered color and shadow, moments of life fold into one another. What remains is not just memory, but the echo of form, inviting us to see again, and differently.