Soiled

I took my fascination with other languages and found dirty words to render with different found materials dependent on my associations with the words or languages. When looking at the piece, many do not speak Hawaiian, Afrikaans, Chinese, Icelandic, etc., thus creating a barrier to communication, much like geographic barriers dividing land. The viewer is only able to go off of visual cues, and hang on to the familiarity of letters in the Roman alphabet, albeit in unexpected, foreign configurations. Even though the words are foul, such as "scumbag" and "loose woman", this is not what the viewer automatically reads when looking at the display. The pieces all have letters and similar hidden meanings in common, but differ in appearance and material. The creative rendering of the curse words is in part inspired by some of the word art seen in "Graphic Design: The New Basics" by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. The desire to see dirty words come to life in tangible form sprung from seeing unexpected words appear on Harlie Rush's embroidery hoops in "The Parallels Between Art and Shit". Many language sites and blog site forums aided in the discovery of the colorful foreign curse words.

Kúkalabbi - "scumbag" represented by dirt-filled sack spilling soil onto surface.

Jive Turkey really jives with the use of an electric pink pool noodle.

Sao huo, or "loose woman", fashioned out of orange tie wraps on found wire grate.

Kanapapikis, or "dumb ass", becoming a typeface in its own right from wrapped palm fronds.