Text-tile Series
: May grace and peace be with you. With all love, let’s love.
.النعمة و السلام معكم. بكل الحب، دعنا نحب :

The hospitality culture of the Bedouin (Arab nomads) began as a way of protecting the tribe. Rooted in a love for one’s own life, it extends outward into a generosity that embraces neighbors and strangers alike. Having moved to Jordan at the age of two, I grew up belonging neither fully to Korea nor to the Arab world. Existing between identities, I developed a longing for “hospitality.” I express this desire through a technique I call Text-tile.

Text-tile is a typographic pattern system based on Arabic, in which words and sentences are repeated and recombined to construct geometric structures. It explores the visual and structural potential of Arabic typography, forming a distinct language that merges culture and text through pattern.

Inspired by the geometric and arabesque motifs found in the streets and architecture of the Middle East, I began using repetition as a method of spatial construction. For someone who struggled to feel a sense of belonging, building letter-based patterns became a way of creating my own space. By embedding the Arabic words for “Love” (حب), “Peace” (سلام), and “Grace” (نعمة) into fabric and tile, I transform text into 'Text-tile'; shaping a spatial language of hospitality. Within a space filled with Text-tile patterns, borders, race, and divisions dissolve. Everyone is equally welcomed.