Letter "S" Possibly 1953

This small print of the letter ‘S’ was made by Ap Sok, a Cambodian artist born in 1917. I’m really drawn to the directness of these marks. The thick black lines that make up the letter and surrounding forms are applied with what feels like real speed and confidence. I can imagine Ap Sok moving between the positive and negative space, creating a dialogue between the letter itself and the world around it. It reminds me a little of calligraphy, where the brush stroke isn’t just about conveying information, but more about the movement of the hand and the energy of the moment. You can feel the artist improvising, letting the image emerge as they work. We are all translators of our own experience and artists like Ap Sok show us that this process of translation is always open to reinvention. And so, the conversation goes on.