20,000 Words

2008; two dictionaries

20,000 Words is made up of two complementary dictionaries. Published in 2007, this dictionary was the most recent compilation of words used at the time. Within this compilation artist blacks out all the words she knows in one of the dictionaries, and whitens all the words she doesn’t know in the other.

By checking which words the artist prefers, which words she doesn’t have access to, and which terminology she is accustomed to, the audience can trace the biography of the artist. The correlation between life experiences, interests and the collection of the words we know and use transforms this work into an autoportrait.