17 February 2012

Art I like - Annie Vought

Annie Vought's work uses not just handwriting, but papercut handwriting - re-created correspondence, enlarged and then cut out. She says: "Handwritten records are fragments of individual histories. In the penmanship, word choice, and spelling the author is often revealed in spite of him/herself. A letter is physical confirmation of who we were at the moment it was written, or all we have left of a person or a time. ... In these paper cutouts, I focus on the text, structure, and emotion of the letter in an elaborate investigation into the properties of writing and expression. Penmanship, word choice, and spelling all contribute to possible narratives about who that person is and what they are like."

When displayed, the shadows of the letters add physical and metaphysical dimension to the work -
The piece above measures 55" x 59" - about 1.5m square. Much more can be seen on her website (where these images are borrowed from.)

For her solo show in LA last year she presented text messages translated from that ephemeral, instantaneous medium into the painstaking, durable cut-paper format. Translating digital to analog.

1 comment:

Olga Norris said...

This is lovely stuff, thanks for the introduction. Some of her clearer pieces reminded me of the cut letters on the side of Prospect Cottage in Dungeness: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonby/3647954485/