BROKEN and MENDED I, two altered second hand dictionaries, cut and restructured with string and encaustic, 10 inches high by 8 inches wide, 2 inches deep, 2017.
BROKEN and MENDED II, two altered second hand dictionaries, cut and restructured, 8 inches high x 8 inches wide x 2 inches deep, covered with metallic gold, 2017.
BROKEN and MENDED III, altered second hand dictionary, cut and restructured, 10 inches high, 8 inches wide, 4 inches deep, 2017

BROKEN and MENDED IV, two altered second hand dictionaries, cut and restructured, plain surface or covered with encaustic, 10 inches high, 8 inches wide, 2 inches deep, 2017.

Broken and Mended, 4 altered dictionaries on mirrored shelf, cut and restructured, 8 inches high, 32 inches wide, 12 inches deep, 2017.

Artist’s Statement

In my altered books project – Babel Library – I synthesize ideas and visual elements that relate to misunderstandings and conflicts between different human groups and nations. My intention is to explore visually, what underlies the deep fears and uncertainties that complicate engagements inside and outside our society today.

I abstracted didactic aspects of the ancient myth of the Tower of Babel.  By using foreign language dictionaries, I emphasize that communication through different languages is frequently labeled as responsible for misunderstandings between different groups or governments – and also – that language is often a victim of war (libraries are frequently burned).  This led to the idea of creating art work – Babel Library – featuring designed metal book stacks, and plinths, displaying altered foreign language dictionaries as if they are coexisting in tolerance and silence of this library project (offering a library of peace, as an idea).

For three years I collected third and fourth hand, variety of foreign language dictionaries. The dictionaries have undergone a spectacular transformation by being cut up and covered in humble materials such as: encaustic, imitation gold leaf, tar, rust, and paint. The altered dictionaries are crude but fascinating, disposable but exquisite, books but sculptural objects, words but babel.