attpåklatt
Inspired by the Norwegian word ‘attpåklatt’, referring to the youngest sibling born long after the rest of a family, this work uses language as a vessel for cultural identities and imposition of roles from birth. Drawn from my interest in Scandinavian folklore, linguistics and ‘untranslatable’ words, the piece explores how certain emotional or relational experiences can resist direct translation, existing individually as culturally-specific forms of knowledge.
The word ‘attpåklatt’ does not carry a direct English translation, as is the case for thousands of words across every language, and the notion that entire cultural experiences, rituals, and emotional nuances exist beyond the limits of my familiar language is incredibly interesting for me to explore. Through combining folkloric and linguistic research, and personal interest in preservation of forms of communication as a kind of archiving, this illustration treats language itself as a practice of contemporary mythology: carrying meanings, rituals, and identities that persist across both physical and digital worlds.