Vocabulary lessons

Vocabulary lessons (Version 2) (2023). Inkjet print and persimmon juice on hanji; woven paper thread. 2.5 x 4.25 x 0.75” closed. Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library Collection.

Vocabulary lessons (2021). Inkjet print and indigo dye on hanji and piña paper; thread made from colored pencil and indigo fresh leaves on handmade paper; linen thread. 7 woven leaves. 1.8 x 4.25 x 0.75” closed, 8.2” wide open. Cynthia Sears Collection, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

The English translations in Vocabulary lessons are of Korean words that I wanted to remember during this sojourn. I wrote the text in 2007 while feeling inadequate about my language abilities. We are told that language learning takes best when young, but my Korean was the strongest it had ever been, in my 40s. Later I heard a new truth: older language learners do better because they understand the context behind the words.

Each woven page provides structure, the context with which I approach lifelong language study. The threads are spun from pages of my old sketchbooks; though the message of these marks is lost, they are part of the paper-thread-page as a new foundation for future words.

Vocabulary lessons

It’s not something you can see,

the way that I travel between thickets of speech.

Weaving words has always been risky.

I still remember that this is treacherous ground.

I might as well dive in and catch as many
as I can find.

공감 sympathy
감정 feeling, emotion
위로 console, comfort
실패 failure
실기 practical skills
순하다 gentle
까치 magpie
계획 plan
기준 standards
실험 experiment
지구 Earth
소재 material
신뢰 trust
종자 seeds
우엉 burdock
보조 assistance
배려 consideration
호감 goodwill
목적 purpose
공유 sharing
혜택 benefit
개판 a mess, chaos
소라 conch
사명감 sense of duty
토종 indigenous
자부심 pride