“Unspoken: A Vocabulary of She”. 2025. Textile and mixed fiber art, 24” diameter.

Unspoken: A Vocabulary of She is a circular fiber artwork that reimagines the themes of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis through a contemporary, female-centered lens. Just as Gregor Samsa’s transformation renders him unrecognizable and ultimately voiceless, this piece reflects on the silencing of women and marginalized communities today — not through physical metamorphosis, but through the erasure of language itself.

At the center of the work, soft faux fur lips stitched shut symbolize the female voice: sensual, bodily, vulnerable — yet forcibly muted. Surrounding them, words that once anchored conversations around equity and inclusion — equality, diversity, identity, feminism, belong — spiral outward in embroidered text. Some words remain bold and legible; others fade into translucency, capturing the quiet violence of erasure.

This act of silencing is not accidental but deliberate: a direct response to recent political efforts under the Trump Administration to purge federal language and initiatives deemed “woke.” The choice of words references language now flagged, censored, or removed from public discourse, revealing how absurdity is institutionalized when words themselves are treated as threats.

The layered background of sheer tulle and textile fragments evokes fragility and partial concealment, while the reptile-textured fabric edging references both transformation and protection — a skin that is both armor and a sign of otherness. The embroidered beetle at the bottom edge directly nods to Kafka’s iconic creature: here, it becomes a witness to suppression, a reminder of the absurd cycle of judgment and alienation.

By weaving these elements together, Unspoken questions: What happens when identity is unwritten? What becomes of those whose very existence is built on words now declared unacceptable? In this piece, the circular composition symbolizes the ongoing cycle of censorship and resistance — a reminder that even when silenced, language persists in traces, shadows, and memory.