“The paintings aren’t here yet! They should be arriving any minute now,” said Lorraine Kiang, as she welcomed me to Kiang Malingue’s brand-new New York outpost in the Lower East Side. She was referring to a selection of Japanese artist Hiroka Yamashita’s latest works, which would inaugurate the space the following week. Born in 1991, Yamashita produces softly bewitching canvases with delicate, diaphanous forms rooted in Japanese mythology. It would be her debut New York solo show, and I had been looking forward to seeing her newest works. Still, sans art, the gallery was quietly stunning: lofty ceilings, a vast 325-square-meter central space, and large windows ushering natural light onto a rustic expanse of terracotta red flooring—an original feature of the former textile factory. The gallery owners are partial to floors with character; their recently closed location in southside Hong Kong was known for its distinctive mustard yellow floor.