Week #32, Ideograms II

Untitled (Abstract Calligraphic Form), 1950, ink on paper, 12" x 9".

Our second work on paper in this series of somewhat surrealist, abstract, East-Asian calligraphic pieces, is probably the most exemplary of the latter's influence. It is a beautiful, enigmatic ideogram that is suggestive of all kinds of possible meaning

In the late 1940s, when Dusti was first introduced to Zen Buddhism, and with it, the related artistic and cultural hallmarks of its East-Asian roots, she clearly allowed it to serve as a source of inspiration for her art. This inspiration happened both on the spiritual/mental level as well as the physical level, where it soon led her to immerse herself in the techniques and methods of East-Asian calligraphy and ink brush painting, such as the Japanese sumi-e way of painting.

Around this time, someone gifted her a set of sumi-e brushes. The sumi-e way requires a Zen approach to painting much like the approach to meditating. You must clear your mind, and you have to “feel” the subject matter you are painting. Each brushstroke you put down on the paper is final, there is no opportunity for correcting anything, as that would completely undermine the intent of the process.

Once again, this week’s work presents us with a mostly centralized black form set against a muted watercolor background of reddish brown. The background seems to flow in from the top left down to the lower right, instantly creating a sense of motion. The ideogram itself consists of a swooping, elegantly curved, heavy brushstroke atop a vertical. The vertical, although not prominent, is the linking element in the whole composition of the main form. It bisects a short horizontal stroke, a semicircular mark, and rests on top of yet a smaller semicircle, which, in turn, is grounded on a strong horizontal line. A small circle in the lower left, a tiny mark below the ideogram, and some ink dots in the upper left are the only elements not part of the main form.