This project was inspired by a moment I shared with my Korean language professor. During a meeting, I received help from her for my speech about the way I understood Korean. I explained that to me some of the vocabulary sounds as though it is an onomatopeia of a word, even when it is not.
From her excitement at how beautiful I find Korean, she suggested I create a piece dedicated to how I am able to see the meaning of words through their sounds. This is so that those who cannot understand Korean would still be able to appreciate it's beauty. An example is the word for apple, 수박, sounds as if someone is crunching into a fresh apple. Or the word for rain, 비, said repetitively sounds like the music of rain on a rooftop.
And so, when I learn new vocabulary, it either already sounds like an onomatopeia for the word or I force it to sound like one. I chose to signify this learning process by placing the word itself inside different fruits, especially to apply the cohesiveness of a category. I chose to keep the colors saturated and the shapes clean, showing the beauty and freshness of fruit, just like new words feel when learning a new language.
I also got a chance to have it printed as a poster using an Epson printer. I chose to keep it matte, as it kept the integrity of the colors. It was printed in the size 16" x 20", perfect to fashion on the wall of my room as motivation for continuing to learn new languages.
In the speech contest, I was awarded the prize for having allowed Korean speakers to realize the beauty of their language.
Be sure to read my speech at this link: https://goo.gl/FfZLtO
