“Language is constructed by humans and dismantled by experience.”
Aftermath, the new solo exhibition by D-Jai Kosiyabong, extends the inquiries of her previous work. It invites audiences to question how meaning is formed, agreed upon, disseminated and passed down through generations, in pursuit of a language freed from bias and context.
In this exhibition, D-Jai brings in textiles and ceramics as a reminder of how language was historically carried from one generation to the next. The mixed-media installations are presented within a linguistic system of her own creation, in which every pigment has its own distinct sound, so that colour functions like letters. Every mark or weave subtly translates into sound: the length of a stroke and structure becomes duration, the angle becomes direction in space, saturation becomes volume, and loose, uncertain brushwork and weaving become distortion.
“By building a language whose rules are entirely visible, the work exposes how much of everyday language rests on invisible rules, which are rarely questioned,” says D-Jai.
Ultimately, Aftermath asks what happens when a language built toward objectivity is used to navigate something entirely subjective, and whether grief is truly felt, or whether the meaning behind the word is what makes us feel that way.
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