common names exhibition ‘unspoken codes’ fosters space for voices left unheard

unspoken codes transforms silence into shared expression

 

Unspoken Codes, presented by Common Names at Art Share L.A. (October 18–31, 2025), explores how shared expression can form a language beyond words. Featuring over 2,500 hand-painted hexagon tiles contributed by individuals around the world, alongside new works by ten international artists, the exhibition reflects on the invisible emotional and social codes that shape human connection. Through collective authorship and participatory design, the project invites viewers to move through a field of color, gesture, and memory, dissolving traditional boundaries between artist and audience. The result is both an evolving archive and a quiet conversation between strangers.

 

Founded in Los Angeles, Common Names began as a small community art initiative grounded in the idea that creativity should not depend on fluency, expertise, or visibility. Inspired by everyday acts of making, the platform has grown into a space for shared authorship across language, culture, and age. Unspoken Codes is the platform’s first major public exhibition, and embodies a belief that empathy can take shape through form, rhythm, and collective attention.

 

Open in LA, USA from 18-31 October, 2025, designboom hosts an exclusive Q+A with Unspoken Codes exhibition initiator and Common Names founder Cici Zhu to delve deeper into the curatorial vision and design philosophy behind the show.

Cici Zhu, Hexagon Drawing Collection (partial view from Unspoken Codes), 2025. Collaborative installation of over 2,500 hand-painted hexagons. Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025 | all images courtesy of Common Names

 

 

Interview with CICI ZHU, COMMON NAMES FOUNDER

 

designboom (DB): Looking back at the journey of founding Common Names, what was the original spark for the idea, and what kinds of questions were you exploring in the beginning?

 

Cici Zhu (CZ): The project was inspired by my experience of moving from Shanghai to Los Angeles. I arrived two years ago, and the transition came with language barriers and cultural adjustments that deeply challenged how I connected with people. I often questioned my ability to belong, or even to be understood, simply because I struggled to communicate through words.

 

But I started to realize that expression doesn’t rely on language alone. Communication can take many forms—visual, emotional, intuitive. Just because someone cannot speak fluently doesn’t mean they have nothing to say. That realization gave me confidence, and also made me wonder: What if we built a space where expression wasn’t measured by fluency or credentials, but simply by honesty?  That’s how Common Names began—a platform open to everyone, where creative expression is encouraged without filters or expectations. I wanted to create a place where people could meet through making, and feel recognized for what they express, not for how perfectly they say it.

installation view of Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025. Featuring works by participating artists | image © Yubo Dong

 

 

DB: In what ways has the act of curating shaped or changed how you think about art’s function and its interaction with an audience?

 

CZ: I’ve been practicing art since I was very young, and over time it became a personal language, something I turned to when words didn’t quite work. But curating requires a very different mindset. It’s not about speaking—it’s about listening. It taught me to see how works relate to one another, how they speak side by side, and how the audience completes that conversation.

 

With the hexagon installation, I read each piece carefully—the colors, lines, textures, sometimes the written reflections. Then I thought about how to place them next to each other to bring out contrast, harmony, or a kind of silent rhythm. It felt less like assembling an artwork, and more like setting a stage for others to speak.

 

Curating also shifted my focus away from personal meaning and toward collective experience. I realized my role wasn’t to interpret the works, but to hold space for the audience to enter and discover their own relationships to them. That was new to me, and very powerful.

installation view of Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025 | image © Zihui Song

 

 

DB: When creating unconventional exhibition spaces for many people—from professional artists to community contributors—what kinds of connections or patterns have surprised you the most?

 

CZ: What surprised me most is how naturally people connect through art, even if they don’t call themselves artists. In this project, I worked with participants of all ages and backgrounds—many who had never painted before or never expected their work to be seen publicly. But when I laid their tiles side by side, I saw emotions and themes repeating across languages and geographies.

 

People who had never met expressed the same sense of longing, or drew from the same palette of memory and joy. You start to see that some emotions don’t need translation. That kind of unspoken connection really moved me. It reminded me that creativity doesn’t come from training—it comes from being human.

installation view of Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025 | image © Zihui Song

 

 

DB: Considering Common Names as a platform, how do you define and actively design for the idea of ‘community’ within your work, especially in terms of fostering shared experience and collective voice?

 

CZ: I don’t think of community as a group of people who all live in the same place or share the same background. For me, community is built when people express something honestly and feel recognized for it. That’s what I try to design for in Common Names—not a shared identity, but a shared act of showing up and speaking in your own way.

 

In the hexagon project, no one was told what to paint or how to contribute. There was no expected outcome, just an invitation. And from that openness, a kind of quiet chorus emerged. You could see pain, joy, memory, playfulness—all coexisting in one space. I think community lives in that coexistence, in the ability to hold multiple voices without needing to flatten them.

Bryan Cruz, Inner Demons, 2023 at Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025  | image ©

 

 

DB: How has working with people across different generations and backgrounds influenced the way you think about authorship and leadership?

 

CZ: Bringing together works from contributors across China, the U.S., Thailand, and many other places helped me realize that authorship doesn’t have to mean ownership. My role wasn’t to speak for others, but to shape a space where many voices could be seen and felt on their own terms.

 

This became especially clear in working with two very different groups. First, I want to acknowledge the ten invited artists, who generously joined this project and responded to its themes in personal, nuanced ways. Their practices brought depth and contrast to the exhibition, and I’m grateful for the trust they placed in this space.

 

I also want to highlight our collaboration with Saint Mark’s School, a K–6 elementary school that lost nearly its entire campus in the LA fire earlier this year. Despite that devastation, 170 students contributed hexagon paintings—some joyful, others abstract or introspective. Their works were arranged into the shape of their school’s lion emblem, and now form a mural that speaks to collective resilience, memory, and hope.

 

Working with both professional artists and young students reminded me why I started Common Names in the first place: to celebrate many forms of expression, across age and experience, and to build something that gives back to the communities who trust us with their stories.

installation view of Cici Zhu’s Hexagon Drawing Collection, dedicated to Saint Mark’s Primary School, at Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025

 

 

DB: How do you understand space in your practice, whether as a designer, curator, or artist?

 

CZ: I think of space as something that shapes how people feel, move, and relate. It’s not just a background for artwork—it’s part of the experience itself. In Unspoken Codes, we thought about space as a series of emotional states: exploration, gathering, and creation. The exhibition was designed like a journey, and each room asked the visitor to take on a different role—observer, listener, or maker.

 

We started with a narrow hallway filled with anonymous hexagon paintings. That space asked people to slow down and look closely. Then they entered an open gallery room for the invited artists, followed by a more intimate room curated around the work of students from Saint Mark’s School. Finally, they reached the participatory workshop room, where they could contribute a tile of their own. As people moved through the space, they moved through different modes of connection.

 

DB: A portion of the exhibition takes place in a hallway, a space that is often transitional. What led you to choose that setting, and what kind of attention were you hoping it would invite?

 

CZ: We wanted to challenge the idea that important art has to be placed in the center of a gallery, framed and spotlighted. Hallways are often passed through without much attention—but in this case, we wanted that space to hold presence and stillness. The hallway was lined with hundreds of anonymous hexagon paintings from participants. Because the space was narrow, visitors had to slow down and stay close. That physical intimacy created a different kind of viewing—quiet, careful, and reflective. It also reflected the values of Common Names: everyone deserves to be seen, no matter where they are placed.

installation view of the Cici Zhu’s Hexagon Drawing Collection in the corridor space, part of the Unspoken Codes at Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025

 

 

DB: What were the key factors in choosing Art Share L.A., a community-centered venue, over a more conventional gallery space for Unspoken Codes, and how does this choice align with the exhibition’s core message?

 

CZ: Art Share L.A. felt like the right home for this project because it supports both the making and sharing of art. It’s not just a gallery—it’s a space where artists live, work, and connect with their communities. That felt aligned with what Common Names stands for.

 

We weren’t looking for a polished white-cube space. We wanted a venue that reflected the raw, ongoing, participatory nature of the project. Art Share also offered us flexibility and trust, which made it possible to build something that wasn’t just a display, but an environment where people could contribute and belong.

visitors view Cici Zhu’s Hexagon Drawing Collection from below, part of Unspoken Codes at Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18–31, 2025

 

 

DB: The hexagon tile is a central motif. How has this design element been used to act as a “visual system of communication” for visitors?

 

CZ: The hexagon shape became the foundation of this project, both visually and conceptually. In nature, hexagons connect seamlessly and grow outward—like in beehives or crystal formations. They’re stable, expandable, and modular, which made them the perfect form for holding many different voices together without hierarchy.

 

In the exhibition, each hexagon tile is hand-painted by a different contributor, but when placed side by side, they form a field of expression that feels collective rather than fragmented. There’s no single center. Instead, the meaning builds through repetition, placement, and proximity.

 

We also extended the hexagon idea into our graphic design. The poster and invitation feature a layered hexagon built from fragments of all ten invited artists’ works. It becomes a kind of echo—an expanding visual that mirrors the way expression travels and grows when it’s shared. It suggests that communication doesn’t always start from the middle. Sometimes it moves outward, softly but powerfully, carrying many voices forward at once.

 

DB: What kind of experience do you hope visitors carry with them after engaging with the exhibition, and what design elements contribute to this intended experience?

 

CZ: I hope visitors leave with a feeling of connection—whether to a stranger’s gesture, a shared memory, or even to themselves. I hope the space encourages people to slow down and notice what they might usually overlook, and to recognize that quiet expression still carries weight.

 

We kept the design very human-scale. No dramatic installations, no hierarchy between works. The participatory room invites people to make something, not just look. That balance between seeing and doing, between reflection and participation, is at the heart of the experience we hoped to create.

 

DB: Reflecting on the entire Unspoken Codes project, what unexpected insights or challenges emerged in the process of bringing it to reality?

 

CZ: One of the biggest surprises was how much the project shaped itself. I had plans in the beginning—layouts, categories—but as I spent time with each contribution, I realized those systems weren’t necessary. The work spoke clearly on its own. I learned to trust the process, to let go of control, and to listen more than I directed. That shift in mindset—seeing curating as listening—was a challenge at first, but it became one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.

Cici Zhu at opening ceremony of Unspoken Codes, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, October 18 – 31, 2025  | image © Zihui Song

 

 

DB: How do you envision the Common Names initiative, and specifically the insights gained from Unspoken Codes, informing your future design projects or community-based art initiatives?

 

CZ: Unspoken Codes helped me realize that community doesn’t always come from shared identity—it can come from shared expression. I’ve seen how people connect across distance and difference simply by making something honest and putting it into the world.

 

Going forward, I want to continue designing projects that create space for many voices, especially those that are often overlooked or undervalued. In Unspoken Codes, for example, I reached out to Saint Mark’s School, a school badly devastated by the Los Angeles fire, to gather canvases and expose them to the public to honor their perseverance and optimism following the rebuild. In the future, I hope to connect more with communities whose voices need to be heard and give back through the transformative power of art.

 

Common Names is still growing, and I see it as a long-term process of listening and building alongside others. As part of that, we will continue to support and contribute to the recovery of Saint Mark’s School—not just in gratitude for their participation, but because their presence in this project has reminded me that expression can be a way of healing, and care can take many forms.

 

project info:

 

name: Unspoken Codes

organization: Common Names | @common.names

exhibition initiator: Cici Zhu (founder Common Names)

location: ArtShare LA, USA | @artshare_la

dates: October 18-31, 2025

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