ㄴ ㅓ ㅇ ㅓ ㄹ ㄱ ㅜ ㄹ ㅂ ㅗ ㅇ ㅕ ㅈ ㅜ ㅓ (Show Your Face)
The title of this exhibition, ㄴ ㅓ ㅇ ㅓ ㄹ ㄱ ㅜ ㄹ ㅂ ㅗ ㅇ ㅕ ㅈ ㅜ ㅓ, is a spread-writing form of the Korean sentence 너 얼굴 보여줘 (Show Your Face). Here, “face” refers not only to identity but also to “typeface”—the visual face of letters.
This exhibition grows out of my ongoing work with the Hangul Project Collective, a research-based platform exploring the visual, historical, and cultural dimensions of Hangul. My interest in Hangul was shaped by living between South Korea and the United States, navigating the complexity of multilingual environments and cultural identity. In a society where English and Roman alphabets dominate, I am drawn to the marginality and visual potential of non-Roman scripts like Hangul. This exhibition addresses the overlooked presence of minority languages and reflects on how scripts shape perception and belonging.
Hangul’s modular structure—composed of geometric consonants and vowels—allows for infinite combinations. I use the spread-writing form to isolate each component, emphasizing its visual form before linguistic meaning. In researching the exhibition, I examined early Hangul typefaces used in Joseon-era texts such as the Hunminjeongeum Eonhae and Eulhaeja Byeongyong, considering how form and printing technologies shaped meaning and access.
Materially, I work with hanji, traditional Korean paper, using the Joomchi technique to transform layered sheets through water and pressure. Like Hangul, Joomchi is built through combination and tension, echoing how language and identity are shaped over time.
By making the “face” of Hangul both subject and material, this exhibition invites viewers to see language not only as a system of communication but as a cultural image—fluid, constructed, and deeply tied to how we see ourselves and others.
