Brief aan Helène Lambertine Hauzeur Possibly 1903 - 1909

This letter to Hélène Lambertine Hauzeur was written by Ernestine Hadkinson, we don't know exactly when. It’s a script of ink on paper. The act of writing is a painting. The words are lines, and the spaces are shapes. In a letter, the painting is a portrait of a conversation, a relationship. I imagine Hadkinson sitting at her desk, pen in hand, thinking about her friend Hélène. What was she feeling? Loneliness? Hope? The need to connect? The way the handwriting leans and loops, the pressure of the pen on the page, all these material aspects of writing become feelings, intentions, meaning. There is a kind of intimacy in a handwritten letter. The physical act of writing becomes embodied expression. I mean it is an artform! This reminds me of other artists who use text in their work, like Cy Twombly, who blurred the lines between writing and drawing. What I love about this is that these exchanges of ideas never really stop across time. It inspires a kind of creativity that allows for multiple interpretations of each other’s work, and life!