Wednesday, October 30, 2013

In the Windows

Julia Babb has been a favorite artist of mine for a while now.  She thinks long and hard about things and usually comes up with a use of language that astounds and amazes me.  In the windows through November a 2 of her large scale calligraphic works: ALEPH  and AS BELOW SO ABOVE.  Though the performer is absent, to me they are performance works.  The whole body movement necessary to make these is evident.  In my mind's eye I can see Julia swaying to the letters. They sing of music, dance and deep time.  Do walk or drive by at various times of day.  The work transforms with the changing light.

Artist Statement

Julia Elizabeth Babb is a multi-disciplinary artist focusing on broad concepts and deeper philosophical meanings. A professional calligrapher's daughter, Julia developed an early love of letters and the letter arts and later, an understanding of the history and mystery behind them. These pieces then, are her contribution to an on-going conversation about letters, words, language and ideas.

~~"Aleph" is a sort of portrait of the first letter of the alphabet, a celebration of and a meditation on the beginnings of things. 

~~"Below As Above So" is a new twist on an old idea. Instead of being written across the page from left to right, the words are arranged so that they must be read up and down, or down and up depending on whether one begins reading from the left side or the right.