Coded Message: Invisible Ink


Coded Message: Invisible Ink mosaic by Sonia King

Coded Message: Invisible Ink (detail) mosaic by Sonia King Mosaic Artist

Coded Message: Invisible Ink
glass, ceramic, white gold, smalti, quartz, silver, marble, rock crystal, seashell, pearls, aluminum, selenite, abalone, pebbles, stainless steel, bone, coral, fluorite, dinosaur bone, mirror on a hand-formed substrate applied without visible adhesive
35.5″h x 25.5″w, 2011

Coded Message: Invisible Ink was one of 46 mosaics chosen for exhibition in Mosaic Arts International 2013.

“There is nothing we like to communicate to others as much as the seal of secrecy together with what lies under it.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

I’m fascinated by the contrast between overt communications and possible subtexts. In our complex, information-packed world, it’s difficult to decipher the true meaning of so many conflicting messages. In Coded Message: Invisible Ink, the tesserae are fixed without visible adhesive on a hand-formed substrate, reminiscent of rumpled piece of parchment. This offers the possibility that the message could change at any moment or even be erased. Viewers can decode the work, finding their own meaning.