Please read it carefully

Please Read It Carefully is a text work that turns a simple instruction into a subtle commentary on attention, authority, and communication. The sentence is familiar from everyday life—found in notes, forms, emails, and instructions—yet when isolated and presented as an artwork, it begins to function in a different way.

The phrase carries a quiet authority. It assumes that something important has been written and that misunderstanding is always a possibility. At the same time, it reflects a common human experience: the gap between what is written and what is actually read. The work draws attention to this small but persistent failure in communication.

Within the Say It Out Loud series, the piece continues the exploration of language as a social tool. The sentence is not expressive or emotional; it is procedural, almost administrative. By placing this kind of functional language into an artistic context, the work shifts it from instruction to reflection. It asks the viewer not only to read the text, but to become aware of the act of reading itself.

Like the other works in the series, Please Read It Carefully is both direct and open-ended. It does not tell the viewer what “it” is, and that ambiguity is important. The instruction becomes general, almost philosophical—it can apply to a text, a situation, a relationship, or even to life itself. The work uses a very small sentence to create a moment of attention, awareness, and quiet self-reflection.

Please read it carefully | Ink and acrylics on canvas | 48 x 36 inches | 2020-21