"Writing games” by Denise Lach
Nothing predestined me for calligraphy, except perhaps an aptitude for precision that was to lead me to train as a draughtsman, and perhaps also my father, who was a confectioner and pastry chef, and who used to mould superb letters onto cakes with his chocolate cone. I live in a small town in the south of Alsace, just outside Basel in Switzerland. Basel has many cultural and artistic events and facilities.
It was there that I came across a beautifully calligraphed poster offering an introduction to this discipline. And so began a long love affair in January 1985...
It was love at first sight that prompted me to devour and buy lots of books on the subject and take numerous courses. Learning about historical scripts and how they evolved was an inescapable source of inspiration for my future calligraphic work. And in January 1990 I began a long journey with André Gürtler, a teacher at the Basel School of Design. Gone were the baroque arabesque feasts that so fascinated me at first! The new agape led to a purification, that is to say, to the essential, to the stripped-down form, to become aware of the quality and breath of the line. But it also led to a reconsideration of sensitivity and aesthetic judgement. Five years of work and research as a free candidate led me to a two-year full-time course in printmaking and engraving at the same school. The challenge was to reproduce a gesture using a print without losing its expressiveness. So you had to learn all the basics of the four original reproduction techniques: xylogravure, lithography, intaglio with etching and screen printing. And to discover which technique was best suited to the desired result.
It's a tricky job because most of the dies require writing to be reversed. So it was in screen printing that I invested most of my time, because we have photographic technology for exposing the screens and there's no need to write upside down...
After graduating, I taught screen printing and worked on script design projects for 20 years at the same school.
During all those years at the school I was immersed in an artistic breeding ground. I collaborated on the book ‘Experiments with Letter form and Calligraphy’ by André Gürler, and then had the opportunity to publish ‘Libres et Egaux’ in 2001, followed by ‘Préface et préambules’ in 2006, published by Alternatives in Paris. These opportunities, in collaboration with our daughter Maïté who is a graphic designer, gave me some experience in publishing. I abandoned the constraints of legibility in favour of a much more gestural approach. I concentrated on the results obtained using increasingly unusual materials. Above all, I moved towards weaving writing, weaving the letters together, creating a whole world of textures. These written images are meant to be a visual emulation, inspired by images gleaned from nature. Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration. It invites us to observe.
The opportunity to publish all these ‘writing games’ with Editions Haupt was the start of a wonderful adventure, with 3 other books to follow. Many factors determine the “weaving” of a piece of writing. The layout, the connection between words, the size and weight, the balance between black and white, the speed of the writing gesture, the tool and the way it is held, the support... are just some of them.
But it's the incessant curiosity that is the source of this deep joy of experimentation.
You don't need any special skills to play with letters. Thanks to personal handwriting, anyone can try their hand at it. Nonetheless, mastering different forms and styles of writing enriches the possibilities of composition. There are rules, and knowing them will help you to avoid them.
The particularities of historical scripts are timeless. It is by practising them that you become fully aware of their specific features. Your eyes are sharpened, and your sense of rhythm and balance deepened. It's only when you've integrated them that you're able to go beyond them and establish your own rules. Rules are the beacons of freedom...
Writing is therefore central, but legibility is no longer essential.
The 2nd book, published by Haupt in a transleded version by Thames and Hudson, is entitled « Journeys in Calligraphy » Inspiring Scripts from Around the World.
And the last book offers 150 variations with the same text, composition and lettering. The quote: ‘Blessed is he who has nothing to say and yet remains silent.’
Working with people with skills other than my own has enabled me to broaden my horizons considerably, particularly in the fields of textiles and ceramics. Thanks to my close collaboration with ceramist Brigitte Long, a number of projects have led to successful exhibitions.
Another great project was the collaboration with Helena Schepens, an artist from Antwerp in Belgium, who works in silver.
It's these long years of preparation for publications, but also the exchange and the richness gleaned from the courses and the teaching that enabled me to rub shoulders with the students and arouse their curiosity, that have brought me to where I am today.
40 years with literature as my companion. 40 years filled with encounters, exchanges, travel and discoveries. But also 40 years of patience and eternal restarting. I have no regrets, because calligraphy always provides me with beautiful music for the soul, which I never stop sharing.
■ Denise Lach ■
・Born on September 28, 1952 in Mulhouse, France. Vocational training as a industrial draftswoman
・Since 1984 international calligraphy courses
・1988-1998 attended scriptural concept courses at School of Design in Basel, Switzerland including training with diploma for engraving (etching, lithography, screen printing and xylography) and experimental calligraphy
・ Member of the board of directors of the Society of Swiss Calligraphers ° International and national exhibitions and workshops
・From August 1998 to January 2016 I taught screen printing and scriptural concept at the School of Design in Basel, Switzerland.
PUBLICATIONS
・ Publication of 5 books on calligraphy, 2 of which have been translated into English. (“Calligraphy, A Book of Contemporary Inspiration” and “Journeys in Calligraphy” issued by Thames & Hudson)
DISTINCTION
・ Karl Georg Hoeffer Award 2016 ° Member of Honor of the Society of Swiss Calligraphers ° correspondent at the academy of arts in Berlin - calligraphy collection
www.deniselach.com
