Between Sheets and Scripts: Translation through Print and Paper (2025)

This series of eight collaborative pieces by papermaker-printmakers Yangbin Park and Danqi Cai explores printmaking, papermaking, and language through translation—both in meaning and materiality. Working in Hangul (Korean) and Hanzi (Chinese), each artist selects four evocative words as starting points. Yangbin chose “migration,” “poetry,” “destiny,” and “self,” while Danqi chose “good,” “married woman,” “safety,” and “obey.” The collaborators reimagine these words through the tactile creation of paper using their unique techniques, such as Joomchi and blow-out.

Upon exchanging these handcrafted papers, the artists engage in a creative dialogue, translating the words into poems, prose, or visual imagery through directly printing (screenprint and laser-cut craft form monotype) on the sheets or sewing crafted papers (Joomchi) onto the substrates. The collaborators respond to the words’ meanings by reinventing the papers, reflecting on how the materiality of paper and the meaning of language both challenge and enrich the translation of the words.

After printing on each other's papers, the artists exchange half of the artworks again. Each ends up with four collaborative pieces, half translating from Hangul to Hanzi and half the other way around. Each artist's collection embodies both individual expression and shared exploration, highlighting the transformative power of collaboration.