My Mother’s Letters: Simulation by Computer

My Mother’s Letters is an attempt at simulation, an artificial re-creation of the handwriting of the artist’s mother. This work presents two different approaches: (1) to get as near as possible to the formal aspects of the handwriting and (2) to reconcile the ill-balanced aspect of the letters (almost regular on the left-hand side, close to chaotic on the right-hand side) and a classical method of picture composition, working with principles such as symmetry, rebalanced asymmetry or countercomposition. The drawings were done with the help of a computer and a plotter, except for one series, where the artist used a printer instead of a plotter. The last pieces show the overlapping of plotter-tracing and actual handwriting: a kind of dialogue between human and machine.