For as long as I’ve lived up the street, the laundromat has been a part of my neighborhood’s heart—a quiet, steadfast presence since the 1950s. Its familiar hum, the smell of soap, and the simple ritual of waiting for laundry to dry had been woven into the fabric of daily life. But now, that chapter has ended. The laundromat is gone, and in its place, a new café has opened—ushering in fresh possibilities.

The Last Fold, The First Bloom is my tribute to both the closing of one era and the bright beginning of another. Through my paintings, I captured the laundromat’s final moments—the owner’s bittersweet farewell before he drives away, his eyes holding decades of memories. It’s a quiet goodbye to a place that had been a part of so many lives.

I painted the new café at sunrise in the end, its garden coming to life with calm blooms. It's a symbol of renewal, filled with the promise of new connections, conversations, and memories waiting to unfold.

This project is a reflection on the delicate balance between endings and beginnings—how, in the softest of moments, the past gives way to the future, and memories bloom once more.