Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1920 - 1927

This letter to Philip Zilcken, penned in Paris in 1920 by Elissa Rhaïs, looks like it was written with blue ink and paper. You know, I can almost feel the scratch of the nib across the page. The words are formed with a flourish, a dance of intention meeting chance. Imagine Rhaïs sitting there, maybe in a sun-drenched room, thinking about Zilcken, thinking about her words. Each stroke, each loop, each dot is like a little brushstroke, adding texture to the overall composition. It’s like she’s painting with words, you know? I'm feeling a connection to Cy Twombly, and all those other artists who understand that writing can be a form of drawing. What's she saying, what's she getting at? It's all a bit of a mystery, but that’s the beauty of it. Artists are always riffing off each other, borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas. And so it goes, this endless conversation across time, inspiring new ways of seeing and making.