Above is a small selection of the exceptional and vast work of NYC artist Sarah Nicholls whose work I met via flickr. Judging from these images you can understand why I was immediately taken in by her super smart hand lettering, line work, patterning and bold forms. Not to mention her clever linguistic focus and great sense of humor. I recently asked Sarah to tell me about herself and her work. No reason for me to wordsmith or paraphrase as she puts it best herself:
Let’s see. I’ve been running the studio programs at the Center for Book Arts in NYC for the past eight or so years, which is where I learned to print letterpress, and to set type by hand, which is how I got interested in drawing type, which is why I started collecting bits of language to print and to set and to draw.
I started doing drawings of type from a vintage copy of an ATF type catalog form the 30s that I have, which also happened to have some inspired bits of writing (Rescued Monk Shows Courage! Expert craftsmen magically produce wonderful instrument which reveals almost incredible improvement over other music producing machines!). This started me on collecting pieces of printed language to use in my work.
The index cards are a tool I use to collect the bits of found language that I started to use in prints and drawings; I’ve tried to (loosely) organize them according to subjective categories.
Right now I’m working on a limited edition letterpress artist book (images 1-4 above) which is a collection of language about transformation: things from skin care ads, alcoholics anonymous pamphlets, avant garde manifestos, self-help books, etc. It’s a combination of prints of drawn type and hand set lead type, and some portraits of people wishing to be transformed.
I like slowing language down, which is what letterpress is all about, and drawing type, and setting type. I like to think about the pace of reading, and reading as a physical act, and language as a visual medium, and the embodiment of language, which is sort of what ties this all together.
It was extremely difficult to narrow down Sarah’s work for this post. I am smitten with every last bit of it. Follow the links below to see much more.
>> Sarah’s website + flickr + blog
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WoW! Excellent combo of technique, design talent & humor.
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