Speechless.

This month, HanjiNaty is taking part in a collective multidisciplinary exhibition titled "Speechless", presented at the RedBox Gallery in Jeonju, until July 5, 2017.



"Speechless" is an exploration of words through images. While English is a language with a massive vocabulary base, there are still words existing in other languages that do not translate directly into this global tongue. 

Foreign words, with no direct translation into English, are expressed through visual arts and poetry.
On the left: "Yugen" created by Natalie Thibault (Hanji Naty).

In this exhibition, seven English speaking expat artists living in Jeollabuk-do composed pieces using some of these words, trying to depict feelings from concepts that do not exist in their own native language. 

The artists of "Speechless". From left to right : Anjee DiSanto, Olivia Laurel, Natalie Thibault (HanjiNaty),
Bonnie Cunningham, Damien Sullivan. Absent from photo: Ash Dean and Sarah Hodgkiss.

The show includes more than two dozens works of art: oil paintings, ink drawings, poetry displayed on traditional Korean scrolls, mixed-media artworks and, of course, Hanji paper cuttings.

The artists were given the creative freedom to come up with any concept that the chosen foreign words inspired them. Some works are more evocative and symbolic, while others chose a more concrete approach.

The "Speechless" exhibitions includes about 30 works of art, created by seven expat artists living in Jeollabuk-do.

The pieces of art are displayed in alphabetical order, to present a sort of "creative dictionary" of the chosen foreign words. The visitors were then invited to explore this beautiful glossary, that goes from "Boketto" to "Yugen", in which they could read the original meaning of the words and let the artists take them into the special and unique world they created around or about every single word.

For this exhibition I created three pieces, inspired by Japanese and French words. For the first time, I chose to display Hanji paper cuttings between two sheets of acrylic, rather than create a 3D object, such as a chest, a box or a lamp. I made the creative decision to let the paper speak for itself, and this new freedom led me to some incredible results.

"Komorebi" is a Japanese word that describes the beauty of sunlight filtering through the trees. 

It evokes the dreamlike translucent interplay between the light and the leaves.

"Yugen" is a Japanese word that evokes in a poetic way the profound and mysterious
sense of the beauty of the universe, along with the sad beauty of human suffering.

"Retrouvailles" is a French word that refers to the overwhelming joy, happiness

and excitement you feel upon reuniting with someone after being apart for a long time.

It was a very interesting experience for me to work on flat surfaces, rather than 3D objects. It allowed me to let the paper speak more freely, and it almost acquired a movement of its own.

I would have liked to create more pieces for the show, but the lack of time forced me to limit myself to three artworks. I am hoping that new occasions will arise soon for me to create new pieces, inspired by other evocative and beautifully exotic words.

Here are some pictures of the gallery, show, and amazing artists who took part in this great creative adventure:

RedBox Gallery is located on the edge of the Jeonbuk University Campus.

Left to right: "Kintsugi" by Anjee DiSanto, "koi no yokan" by Olivia Laurel, "Iktsuarpok" by Bonnie Cunningham.

Amazing artists! What a joy to be part of that creative bunch!

Left to right: "Shuushi" (oil painting by Damien Sullivan), "Solregn" (photographic triptych by Anjee DiSanto)
and "Tosca" (oil painting by Damien Sullivan). 

"Duende" by Bonnie Cunningham.

 (Jeollabuk-do, South Korea). The exhibition is open from June 22nd to July 5th, from 10am to 6pm seven days a week. Admission is free.

Directions to get to the gallery:



I really hope you have a chance to visit this truly unique art show! If you do, please make sure to leave a note in our guestbook. Enjoy!