
Other letter shapes come as a result of experiments writing without lifting the pen
or brush. Thus the shape of aleph develops as you see here below (from
right to left), with the brush rendering below it |


ABSTRACT HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY - CONT'D. |
Personally, I find these forms exciting, especially as they allow for an almost jazz
like improvisation while "composing" a calligraphic piece. Abstraction for
me also allows for a certain mystery - suggesting there is always something deeper
underlying the literal, face-value meaning of the words. To me it is a little bit similar to a Hassidic niggun. The niggun often begins with words, but then goes off on its own. To me it is the wordless tune of the niggun that resonates within a deeper place in me. So too I feel that the "energy" or spirit of the abstract Hebrew calligraphy, even though the letters and words might be not be legible can resonate deeper within the viewer. |
During this process I was also most definitely looking at Chinese and Japanese calligraphy
(which moves me deeply even though I cannot read a word of it), to learn
what makes for an interesting "line". This holds true for Islamic calligraphy
as well. As opposed to traditional Western calligraphy, which sets as its ideal
an even, uniform distribution of black and white rhythm throughout the line
of writing (thus graphically every line looks the same as the next), far-eastern
calligraphy sees its graphic composition almost like music - an asymmetric balance
of color and shape, a building up of tension, followed by a releasing of
tension - a dance of the brush with ever changing rhythms. I did want my Hebrew
calligraphy compositions to have those qualities. Thus I continued with the entire Aleph-Bet. In this way I have built up a personal visual language, which allows me to be both connected to the roots of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, yet allows for flexibility and improvisation while composing calligraphically. The specific shapes for each letter are not fixed. They are ever evolving as well as changing within each composition as the need, either energetically or spatially, demands. |