Threaded Dialogues is a project created by embroidering into a notebook that once belonged to my late grandfather. The notebook contains his handwritten work notes, in which he recorded observations on national development during his career as a civil servant. For most of my childhood, I saw him constantly writing and reading at his desk, yet I never fully understood what occupied him so completely, nor why his devotion to governmental work seemed to outweigh everything else.

The embroidered text is written in English for practical and material reasons. Chinese characters require dense and complex strokes, which would risk tearing the fragile paper of the notebook. English words, with fewer strokes, can be stitched without damaging the page. This choice is not governed by a fixed order or sequence. I stitch only into the blank areas of each page, deliberately avoiding the original handwriting, as I do not wish to obscure or overwrite my grandfather’s words. Instead, the embroidery exists alongside them, as a careful response rather than an interruption.

In this way, the notebook becomes a site of layered dialogue. His writing remains intact, carrying the weight of institutional record and lived experience, while my stitched words—added later, slowly, and by hand—introduce a personal, reflective voice. Through embroidery, a medium associated with patience and care, the work returns warmth and intimacy to what were once formal, bureaucratic records, allowing memory, affection, and social reflection to coexist on the same fragile surface.