In Other Words

IN OTHER WORDS: an exploration of language // 
saturday, september 13th
noon pacific time
3pm eastern time

This collection is inspired by words that don’t have an exact equivalent across languages: expressions of emotion, relationship, and experience too layered to pin down with a single concise translation.
Some hold feelings that are universally human - grief, longing, excitement, connection. Others reveal what a particular community values: how we welcome guests, carry pain, or see ourselves in relation to others.
My hope is that learning about these words and the cultures they come from will invite deeper understanding of our humanity and shared experiences, a slowing-down so we can really hear what these words carry. I’ve taken inspiration from each word to craft a slime that serves as a counterpart to that experience through texture, fragrance, and visuals. 
There were many meaningful words to choose from. While I aimed for diversity, some languages and sacred words are absent out of respect; their weight is such that to lift them outside their context risks flattening or exoticizing them, as has too often happened under colonization.
I hope that this collection invites you to explore different languages on your own, to see beyond the beauty or surface-level meaning of words, and to find connection in the way we describe our experiences.