The sound is the perfect collaboration to tie it together. Working with EDGE Sound Research, Rose and Nadia turned the artworks themselves into audio-emitting surfaces, programmed so the sound moves through the gallery in waves, and at the center an infinite tide of frequencies washes over a small pond, caught in a single beam of light so you can see it as much as hear it. Earth, water, light, and sound doing the work that wall text usually does.

Rose and Nadia met at last year’s LAD/W, each presenting their own show, and Holland Denvir saw enough overlap in their taste to pair them for this one. Coming off two runway sets built for other designers’ visions, Rose told us curating is the first time in a while she’s had to be the artist instead of channeling one. Between the two of them, the result is one of the most complete rooms at this year’s festival.

After the Tide is on view at Small Green Door, with a celebration alongside LAD/W this Saturday, October 3 from 8pm to midnight.

Read the full interview with Rose and Nadia below.

How did After the Tide come together? How do you and Nadia know each other, and what made you want to curate this show as a pair?

We first met last year during LAD/W’s 2nd edition. We both presented separate shows. Nadia curated the previous LAD/W Open Call Series exhibition titled Forms of Living, an interactive show where many of the works were functional pieces that invited guests to experience them firsthand. Separately, Rose had presented a show titled Frozen Han, that introduced the heritage of traditional East-Asian craft to LA’s contemporary design scene. Holland, the founder of LAD/W has a great sense of creative pairing, and supported us in joining our similar taste and sensibility for this year’s Open Call series, which we titled After The Tide.

You describe the show as a collection of glimmers in the sand, with the works chosen through the LAD/W Open Call. What were you looking for in the selections, and what ties this group of artists together?

We were looking for pieces that find harmony between the tension of control and chance. These pieces are shaped by the forces of nature alongside human touch. Through this body of work, you can see pieces that embrace the spontaneity of nature, and others that mold it through meticulous precision.

Our curatorial process felt like following the path of the tide. Once we found one piece, it led us to another, and soon it formed a trail of glimmers in the sand.

What ultimately began to connect the works was a feeling of earth meeting human touch: wood, clay, metal, organic forms, and pieces that suggest movement or transformation. We didn’t want to force those connections too early. One of the things we enjoyed about the LAD/W Open Call Series is that you are presented with the work first, and the rest unfolds from there. We didn’t necessarily know the full stories or intentions behind every submission, so the selection began with a visual and intuitive response.

In some ways, the process felt similar to walking along the beach and noticing a glimmer in the sand from a distance. You wonder, “What could that be?” So you walk a little closer to get a better look, and hopefully you’re surprised or amazed by what you find. There was a lot of looking, combing, and refining, until a world began to take shape. These are our glimmers in the sand.

You two created the sonic installation with EDGE Sound Research yourselves, an infinite tide of audio frequencies washing over a pond, projected in light. How did that collaboration come about, and what does sound let the show do that objects alone can’t?

Nature’s ambient sounds can gently draw us in closer to our surroundings, encouraging us to form a deeper connection with what we see. Sound is an invisible but powerful way to form that gravitational pull. With Edge Sound Research, the space itself becomes the audio source, transforming various artworks into audio-emitting surfaces. They are programmed in a way to feel like a passing tide through the exhibition. At the center of the exhibition, an infinite tide generated by audio frequencies washes over a gentle pond. A beam of light illuminating the installation projects the tide as a harmonic dance across both the visual and sonic landscapes of the gallery environment.

This collaboration came about because we wanted to invite a sensory element into the exhibition to reinforce that connection with nature.

Edge Sound Research approaches audio with a deeply human touch. Their purpose is to materialize sound into energy you can hear, feel, and see. Together we incorporated their audio technology into sensorial raw elements like earth and water that represented the foundation of our exhibition.

Coming right off your NYFW sets, this is a different kind of world-building. What does curating let you do that set design doesn’t, and is there more of it in Office of Rose’s future?

The creative process feels very similar. I build immersive worlds that wrap themselves around a couture look walking down the runway, or a piece of newly unveiled artwork. For NYFW, I leaned heavily into the vision of other designers. While for my own curated show, it reveals a more intimate and personal mindset of my creativity. The difference is leaning into the vision of another, or building a vision of your own from scratch. The second is always a little intimidating. It challenges me to oscillate between channelling the artist and being the artist. But that is the precise dynamic I want to exist in as a creative. I see my office as its own creative entity, alongside building visions for other artists.