I first stumbled upon The Bloom Saigon’s work at a café in my first few weeks since arriving in the city. A futuristic floral installation where electronic circuits seemed to breathe life into blossoms—it was unlike anything I’d ever seen! I’d been curious about the artist behind it since and finally, more than a year later on a Sunday morning thick with heat, I found myself face to face with Phuong at last. She welcomed me into her studio, two iced Americanos in hand, and she shared how, before she found her path as a floral botanical designer, she was working through questions about her identity, purpose and the kind of life she should be building.

What was she meant to do? What kind of impact was she supposed to make? Who was she, really? And as a woman, how could she carve out a path that was truly hers, free from society’s weighty demands and expectations? These were the questions she asked herself throughout most her twenties. It was funny how quickly our conversation started to feel like one I’d have with myself. We had plunged straight into the deep end, my coffee still barely touched. And then Phuong said something that struck me: finding yourself, she said, is harder than following a prescribed career path, like that of a doctor or even a designer. You can follow a set of steps—with years of schooling and defined milestones—but figuring out who you truly are, and what you’re meant to do, that’s a journey without a blueprint. It’s a search for a direction when you may not even know where to begin.

For Phuong, clarity came through her connection with nature. Like flowers, she believes we each have our season of bloom—when we feel most aligned with ourselves and our purpose, and when we are happiest and most fulfilled. When flowers blossom, their beauty is so striking that nothing else matters. Not how brief the moment is, not what came before or what follows. Now, as we sat together, she told me: this is her season.

That morning, she created KÉN (Cocoon) and TỔ CHIM (Bird Nest)—pieces that embodied everything we had spoken about. Read on for more about KÉN from the designer herself.

“Observing the life cycle of a silkworm, I suddenly realized that our journey of self-discovery and growth mirrors that of a cocoon. As a typical Asian girl, the family core has always been my foundation, guiding every turning point in my gap life.

KÉN is transformation. It’s the act of shedding layers, breaking free, and stepping into the light. From the fragile beginnings of a cocooned being, we learn to move, to let go, and to trust in ourselves. But KÉN is also love. It holds the warmth of family, the tenderness of a mother’s embrace, and the ever-evolving search for one's true self. “Become Yourself" is the heart of KÉN. Because perhaps, success or becoming ‘someone’ is not the hardest thing. The real challenge is becoming yourself—living with gratitude and happiness.

The KÉN series is a quiet reminder of our journey to selfhood in a world of infinite identities:
Stage 1: Nesting, incubation, protection, warmth.
Stage 2: Stirring, unraveling, emerging, releasing.
Stage 3: Shedding, expanding, soaring.

The life cycle of a silkworm has taught me that to grow truly, we must be willing to shed what holds us back. We must face the unknown, even when it feels daunting. While creating “KÉN”, I found myself reflecting on the gap in life, those moments when we must decide, step forward, and embrace change on our own.”

—Phuong

Instagram @thebloomsaigon

Vulnerable Works is about the quiet courage of making. At its core, this project is deeply personal. Through these conversations, I seek perspective and ways to navigate feelings of doubt, uncertainty, and the tension between vision and reality. These stories weave my reflections with those of the artists, offering a glimpse into the process, the trust it demands, the triumphs that keep us going, and the vulnerability inherent in creating. Sometimes I pick up a little more—the songs that fill artists’ studios, bits of their daily routines—but always, I return with photographs.