The Birth of Love Letters Collection: From Written Words to Abstract Art.
- leitmotifeditions
- Dec 5, 2024
- 2 min read
Love Letters collection explores the timeless beauty of connection through abstract compositions. This series draws inspiration from letters—moments captured in words, transcending time to connect lives and emotions. At the heart of this collection lies the concept of expressing love and human connection through abstraction.
What are letters?
Letters are more than just words—they are moments, emotions, and fragments of life captured and preserved. They carry love, longing, joy, and loss, transcending time and space to connect us with the essence of another person. This idea lies at the heart of Love Letters, a collection of abstract works inspired by a deeply personal and literary journey.
It began with a book
Kroją mi się piękne sprawy (Beautiful Things Are Taking Shape for Me), the correspondence between Alina Szapocznikow and Ryszard Stanisławski, edited by Agata Jakubowska, was particularly meaningful to me, as it was one of the first Polish titles I picked up after returning to the country following a long absence. The world around me was steeped in the fullness of late summer, mirroring the start of their correspondence in August 1948.
Months later, in the reflective stillness of early December, I discovered Listy (Letters), the letters exchanged between Rainer Maria Rilke, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Boris Pasternak—a record of their intense poetic dialogue from 1926. The following year brought yet another substantial volume: Pisanie jest tylko dodatkiem (Writing Is Only an Addition), a collection of letters exchanged between the Porębscy and the Różewiczowie over half a century, beginning with a letter dated July 11, 1946. By then, my reading aligned with the arrival of summer.
During this “letter-reading period,” the first works of Love Letters began to take shape. Initially loose, abstract compositions—like a visual diary of fleeting emotions—they evolved into layered creations, concealing what was vivid, unspoken, and unresolved. Each piece became a personal reflection while carrying a universal resonance.
The Language of Abstraction
Where letters use words, Love Letters communicates through colors, forms, and textures. Reds pulse like a heartbeat; blues whisper of quiet reflection. Intersecting shapes and cryptic markings suggest connections that are not immediately visible.
The split composition in the Love Letters collection evokes the idea of a folded or unfolded card—reminiscent of those once used for personal messages. The plain, single-colored half offers a moment of stillness, drawing attention to the dynamic abstract imagery on the other. This interplay mirrors the act of sending and receiving—a quiet dialogue that invites viewers to find their own connections within the work, bridging intimacy and universality through a subtle exchange of emotion and meaning.
Abstraction, like correspondence, creates a space for the imagination to enter. It does not dictate meaning but invites discovery. Each brushstroke and layer becomes a thread in a larger tapestry of thought and feeling.
A Celebration of Connection
At its core, Love Letters collection celebrates connection. It honors the beauty of reaching out—whether through a letter, a painting, or a shared moment of understanding. It reminds us that love, in all its forms, is both deeply personal and universally human.
As I read these correspondences, I reflected on the beauty of vulnerability, the power of shared experiences, and the timeless rhythm of love. Our visual letters, I believe, are infused with all of these.
Su Ai x Leitmotif Editions
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