Introducing my new collection, The Carried Thread — an exploration of lineage, belonging, and slow making.
A Shift in Rhythm
Over the summer, my creative rhythm began to change. For years, my studio walls have been filled with architectural and floral paintings—vivid cityscapes, structured lines, and blooms that captured the meeting of nature and the urban world. But as my pregnancy unfolded, I found myself drawn to a slower, more tactile process.
Brushes gave way to thread. Paper and fabric replaced canvas. The work began to breathe differently—less about structure, more about continuity and care.
This wasn’t a deliberate reinvention, but a response to transformation—both in my body and my sense of time. Pregnancy introduced a softness, an attentiveness, and a slower rhythm that began to seep into every part of my creative life.
Guided by Mentorship
During this period, I was mentored by the artist Mila Sketch, whose insight came at exactly the right moment. Our conversations often circled around change—how life transitions can become creative ones if we allow them to. Mila encouraged me to lean into this shift, to let the experience of pregnancy shape the work rather than stand apart from it.
My earlier collections, inspired by architecture and florals, were already a form of storytelling—portraits of the cities and spaces that had shaped me. They were my way of tracing memory and belonging through the physical world. This new body of work carries that same introspective thread forward, but the focus has turned inward.
Instead of mapping places I’ve lived, I’m mapping the world I hope to pass on. The Carried Thread has become a kind of gift—a visual inheritance for my unborn child. It gathers together the cultural lineages that form their story: the histories, symbols, and textures woven through our lives. In creating it, I’m also finding new ways to understand my own place within those intersecting worlds.
Mapping Heritage Through a Grid
At the heart of this shift is a central piece: a large grid composed of over 1,500 one-inch square drawings. Begun during pregnancy and continuing into early motherhood, it has become both a journal and a map—a way to think through what I’ll carry forward.
Each small square contains a symbol or motif, drawn in quiet repetition. Together they explore the layers of cultural inheritance and personal reflection shaping this new chapter.
Some squares reference architectural forms, native flora, or textile patterns; others are simple marks that mirror my changing thoughts during pregnancy. Seen together, they trace a rhythm of daily making—an act of reflection, care, and continuity.
Weaving Four Worlds
As a British Indian artist married into a Korean American family and based in Austin, I’ve always inhabited multiple cultural geographies. As I think about my unborn child and the heritage they’ll inherit, I find myself exploring their connection to four distinct cultures — the UK, USA, India, and Korea. In this collection, these layers of belonging come together: London brickwork, Indian textiles, Korean knots, and the Texas light that spills through my studio window.
Through drawing, embroidery, and found fabric, I’m tracing how identity is stitched together from fragments — languages, textures, gestures, and memories. Each act of making—drawing a symbol, threading a needle, arranging a pattern—feels like a quiet love letter across generations.
The Carried Thread
This new body of work, The Carried Thread, is an exploration of lineage, belonging, and the gentle labour that shapes identity. It’s emerging through slow, tactile processes—drawing, stitching, layering—that echo long traditions of women’s work, where care and memory are passed down through hands.
It asks: how do we carry our ancestors within us? How can something as delicate as a thread hold stories of migration, resilience, and love?
Looking Forward
As I continue this work through early motherhood, I’m learning to let the process unfold at its own pace. The act of making has become a form of reflection—a way to understand both where I come from and what lies ahead.
I’ll be sharing glimpses of this journey in the months to come: the evolution of the grid, studies in embroidery, and the growing connections between these cultural threads.
This collection began as a quiet response to change, but it’s becoming something larger—a map of belonging, made one mark at a time.
Follow Along
If you’d like to follow the evolution of The Carried Thread:
- Subscribe to my newsletter for studio updates and reflections.
- Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes process and sketches.
Author’s Note
Malti B Lee is a British Indian artist based in Austin, Texas. Working across painting, drawing, and textile-based media, her practice explores the intersections of architecture, memory, and belonging—drawing inspiration from her global experiences and cultural heritage.
