Gestural Calligraphy: Forms That Almost Read
The fourth of seven posts presenting work from a particularly active period in early 2021, when I was developing several series at once.
In this gestural calligraphy series, I use principles of traditional calligraphy to give freely formed marks the appearance of writing. The forms suggest characters without offering a text to read. Surrealist elements enter through the way a stroke can seem to fold, turn or acquire volume.
In the first work, red and ochre passages curl around darker strokes. Fine parallel lines make some of the forms look like ribbons, while the black edges suggest depth. The groups are separated by white paper, but the eye still tries to connect them, almost as if moving through a written phrase.
Between Likeness and Unlikeness — 似与不似之间
These works also draw on the idea of “between likeness and unlikeness” (shì yǔ bù shì zhī jiān, 似与不似之间), associated with Qi Baishi’s approach to painting.[1] The phrase does not require either perfect resemblance or complete abstraction. It leaves room for recognition to remain uncertain.
Here I bring that uncertainty into the space between writing and painting. A form may first look like a character, then like an object turning in space. On closer inspection, the apparent volume resolves into brushwork. This change in perception is part of what interests me.
The turquoise work leaves more air between its loops and turns. In the darker work, the strokes overlap and gather weight. Both borrow the movement of calligraphy, yet invite a slower kind of looking. The eye wants to read; the shapes keep it looking.
Footnotes
[1] China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism: “Likeness and Unlikeness — A Dialogue with Qi Baishi”, exhibition notice, 2019 (Chinese). The exhibition focuses on Qi’s formulation 妙在似与不似之间. ↩
Related articles
Experimental Calligraphy: Deconstructing the Character → Gestural Painting: A Step Further → New Surrealism: Dreams in Ink
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Original works are available on FriedrichZettl.com and Saatchi Art
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