a gap that momentarily suspends the Order of Being

a gap that momentarily suspends the Order of Being | acrylic on paper | 76 x 56.5 cm

I’m interested in language as a material of making, particularly in states of formation and cessation. I’ve been working at the crossroads of calligraphy, pre-Renaissance German handwriting and graffiti, while referencing a cursive mode of writing I was taught in school while growing up in Germany.

Cursive writing wasn’t allowed once I went to high school in California, and then came digital writing – I hadn’t used cursive to write with since childhood. Interestingly, after all these years, I can still see traces of it in my signature.

I’ve found that handwriting is infused with and expresses intention (motivation), emotion (joy, stress), temporality (haste), cultural context and personality in ways which are different to typography or architecture of letterforms. I’m particularly fascinated by how handwritten messages age and fade and are overlaid by new symbols, new voices – layers of messages filled with memories and ideas merging to become something altogether different, and then decaying together over time.

Look homeward, angels!