CHIAROSCURO - A CALLIGRAPHIC JOURNEY BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK
Chiaroscuro is an Italian artistic term that describes the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in pictorial representation. The term comes from the combination of the Italian words for light (chiaro) and dark (scuro). In this case, the term Chiaroscuro as a metaphor to symbolize the beauty and the subversive power of the human mind. Life is never black or white but rather somewhere in between with a multitude of potential meanings and interpretations. There is a clear fascination by the “in between” and the various meanings that arise from contrasts. Through calligraphy, this collection of works explores the beauty and simplicity of script while making an ironic commentary on romanticized ideals. With a sense that language is mutable, famous texts are taken out of context and contrasted against an alternate idea through weaving, in order to appropriate, re-contextualize, re-invent and question their original meaning. Shimmering and floating, the fluid and graceful characters of opposing texts are partially revealed and then concealed beneath the woven canvas. This approach is a reflection of a meditative and thoughtful process of alternating confirmation and disavowal. Binary opposites such as light/dark, revelation/secrecy, words/silence, horizontal/vertical, and feeling/thinking provide rich possibilities that allow for the examination in fluidity of meaning between language and thought.
Chiaroscuro is an Italian artistic term that describes the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in pictorial representation. The term comes from the combination of the Italian words for light (chiaro) and dark (scuro). In this case, the term Chiaroscuro as a metaphor to symbolize the beauty and the subversive power of the human mind. Life is never black or white but rather somewhere in between with a multitude of potential meanings and interpretations. There is a clear fascination by the “in between” and the various meanings that arise from contrasts. Through calligraphy, this collection of works explores the beauty and simplicity of script while making an ironic commentary on romanticized ideals. With a sense that language is mutable, famous texts are taken out of context and contrasted against an alternate idea through weaving, in order to appropriate, re-contextualize, re-invent and question their original meaning. Shimmering and floating, the fluid and graceful characters of opposing texts are partially revealed and then concealed beneath the woven canvas. This approach is a reflection of a meditative and thoughtful process of alternating confirmation and disavowal. Binary opposites such as light/dark, revelation/secrecy, words/silence, horizontal/vertical, and feeling/thinking provide rich possibilities that allow for the examination in fluidity of meaning between language and thought.
