Collage Serie Hiragana

ひらがな

Since the beginning of 2017, I have been learning the Japanese syllabary hiragana. I have a special interest in Japanese culture. I have been exploring Japanese characters and language. The syllabary hiragana inspires me. It is sign, image and content. The basic set of hiragana syllables formerly consisted of a set of 50 characters, of which 46 are still in use today. They are listed in a table.
From this resulted the collage series “46 Hiragana”.
As backgrounds, I used archive photographs of my own drawings. The sheets of paper are 30 cm x 20 cm each (with minimal deviations). When learning the syllabary, you write the hiragana in proportion in square grids.

I drew this grid with a ballpoint pen on photographic paper. For every single hiragana I worked out a composition. I used different Japanese papers and dry transfer lettering in Latin script.

I am interested in the fixed sequence of writing, of drawing. In Japanese, all characters are subject to a fixed sequence of strokes. I was touched by the meditative, perfectionist, aesthetic and graphic qualities. The beauty created by austerity.

My aim was to create a connection between the two writing cultures. The basis of which is one of my drawings. Both scripts stand in contrast to each other, yet they meet in a pictorial statement. The collage as a written image.