Oblique Table × Scented Stranger: Exploring Scent, Chinese Herbs & Natural Materials in NYC

There are many things to do in New York City. Sometimes, though, what we want is not another place to visit, but a different way to experience the city.

At Oblique Table, we create intimate workshops in New York City around craft, culture, natural materials, and the senses. Our gatherings are designed for people who want to make something with their hands, encounter an unfamiliar material or tradition, and spend time with other curious people around the same table.

This September, Oblique Table partnered with Scented Stranger 香间旅人 for A Month of Scent & Memory, a series of sensory workshops exploring Chinese aromatic herbs, traditional scent culture, incense, essential oils, botanical materials, memory, and everyday ritual.

Some workshops involved making. Others began simply with smelling.

The common question was:

What can scent help us notice that we usually move past?

TCM-Inspired Wellness Through Scent and the Five Elements

Another workshop explored scent through ideas associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Five Elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Rather than presenting TCM as a medical treatment, we approached the Five Elements as a cultural framework for thinking about season, balance, sensory preference, and everyday ritual.

Participants smelled different essential oils and botanical materials, reflected on their own preferences, and created a personal essential-oil blend.

It was part aromatherapy workshop, part cultural exploration, and part quiet time spent paying attention to the senses.

For people searching for TCM-inspired wellness activities in NYC, Chinese herbal traditions, aromatherapy, or natural approaches to everyday ritual, workshops like these offer an accessible entry point without requiring previous knowledge.

Our workshops are educational and sensory experiences rather than medical treatment or medical advice.

Making Incense by Hand with Natural Materials

Scent can also become a physical material.

In our hands-on incense workshop, guests worked with aromatic ingredients and seasonal botanicals to shape individual pieces of cone incense.

The workshop was inspired by Báilù 白露, or White Dew, one of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms marking the transition toward early autumn.

Guests worked slowly with their hands, adding botanical elements such as chrysanthemum, osmanthus, flowers, spices, and natural powders before taking their incense home to dry.

Making incense transforms fragrance from something invisible into something tactile.

You touch it. Shape it. Wait for it to dry. Eventually, you burn it.

That slower relationship with a material is something we return to often at Oblique Table.

The workshop is also a good example of how we want to approach Chinese cultural traditions: not as decoration, but through materials, context, process, and participation.

Why Natural Materials?

We are increasingly interested in materials that already carry a history before they arrive at the workshop table.

Wood. Herbs. Flowers. Fiber. Clay. Incense. Shells. Botanical oils.

Natural materials are imperfect and variable. Two pieces rarely behave exactly the same way.

They ask you to notice texture, smell, temperature, resistance, and change.

That makes working with them different from simply assembling a finished craft kit.

At Oblique Table, making is often a way to learn about the material itself.

A Different Kind of Thing to Do in NYC

New York is full of entertainment.

But sometimes the most memorable evening is surprisingly small: ten people sitting around a table, passing around an unfamiliar herb and realizing that everyone has smelled something completely different.

Our workshops are intentionally intimate.

You can come with a friend, but many guests come alone. You do not need to be an artist, know anything about fragrance, or have experience with Chinese medicine or incense.

You only need to be curious.

For anyone looking for:

creative workshops in NYC, unique things to do in New York, hands-on activities in Manhattan, natural material workshops, Chinese cultural workshops, incense-making classes, Chinese herbal scent experiences, TCM-inspired wellness workshops, or simply a more thoughtful way to spend a weekend in the city, there is a place for you at the table.

FAQ

What is Oblique Table?

Oblique Table is a creative gathering space in New York City offering small-group workshops around craft, culture, natural materials, and sensory experiences.

Where are Oblique Table workshops held?

Oblique Table workshops take place in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Exact locations and event details are provided with individual workshop listings.

Do I need experience to attend?

No. Most Oblique Table workshops are designed to be beginner-friendly, and the individual event description will note if previous experience is required.

Can I come to an Oblique Table workshop alone?

Yes. Many guests attend alone. Workshops are designed around a shared table, making it natural to talk, work, and meet other participants during the experience.

Are the Chinese herbal and TCM workshops medical treatments?

No. Oblique Table's TCM-inspired workshops explore cultural traditions, scent, botanical materials, sensory experience, and everyday rituals. They are not medical diagnosis or treatment.

What kinds of materials are used?

Depending on the workshop, materials may include Chinese aromatic herbs, incense ingredients, essential oils, flowers, botanical materials, clay, fibers, wood, paper, and other natural or tactile materials.