Ky Lan II depicts a hybrid animal combining catfish, tiger (her mother and son's zodiac signs), and water buffalo (the artist's zodiac sign). The catfish references the caramel fish claypot dish (cá kho) beloved by her family. Abstracted durian fruits hang from the "sky" in the painting's center. In 1995, when Truong first traveled back to Vietnam with her family, she encountered durian for the first time—an intense experience. Over subsequent decades, as the fruit became more available in California, it evolved into a cultural "litmus test" for the children of Vietnamese refugees, measuring whether they retained their homeland's taste preferences.

The work combines painted and printed silk. The black printed fabric features "Sarasa with Figures, Birds and Fantastic Animals," a historic late 17th to early 18th century design created in India for the Japanese market to evoke what was then termed an "oriental fantasy." Truong has long incorporated historic textiles into her practice, referencing the nonverbal cultural trade that signified migration, value and power.