VEILS
In this body of work, I investigate the concept of voice through an invented font. This mode of communication creates a visual relationship between the power of language and the barriers that emerge when communication is restricted. Although the work appears narrative and incorporates recognizable forms of language, the content of those narratives remains intentionally hidden. I use a coded butterfly typeface to obscure recognizable meaning, allowing the language to function as a protective device—limiting my vulnerability while still empowering me through the catharsis of its creation.
Through the restorative and protective capabilities of language, words become coping mechanisms. I developed the butterfly font by breaking down the pupation phases of a Monarch butterfly into twenty-six characters. This typeface embodies an emotional metamorphosis through the creative expression of language. As literal meaning is stripped away, it is replaced by the signifier of what these poems accomplish: a visible shedding of past experience and a more hopeful engagement with the present.