Artist Statement
Verbal Misinterpretation
For a long time, I have been dealing with verbal misinterpretation, and it has always been frustrating to be misunderstood. I don’t have good communication skills and my words may seem awkward at times. I understand that this may make people confused about the meaning that I want to convey. Sometimes people will allow me to explain myself again but other times I meet people who take this personally. Sometimes those with malicious intentions try to twist my words and infer a different meaning from my speech. When the message goes to someone else, it shifts to a different meaning and transforms my thought completely. Furthermore, when I try to justify myself and explain that’s not what I meant, rather than listening, they often tell me to prove my good intentions through action. But they are actually never there to witness it. I have experienced verbal miscommunication within my extended family where my language was misinterpreted and caused offense to my relatives. It was hard to explain myself living abroad with extended family.
This illustration series, Verbal Misinterpretation, is composed of my own experiences and emotions. The images depict feelings of guilt from the expectation that I need to make myself a better person to make a positive first impression on people. However, I also need to understand that you can not satisfy everyone and some will not try to understand you. I know that sometimes you need to move on, live a life that is true to yourself, and believe there will be other people who understand your good intentions.