I am back from my travels to Norway, Denmark and Sweden and return to a country I don’t recognize. The Covid-19 virus has locked down so much of the country, leaving the city strangely empty. Panic was not present in the countries I visited... at least not while I was there.
What was present and throughout much of the world is a history that we don’t have in the United States. Being only 240+ years old, something “old” in this country is over 25 years. To the rest of the world it can be a few hundred or a few thousand years old. It is also no surprise that the Scandinavian history is beautifuly fused with the new. This combination speaks to a history, sometimes known and sometimes to an unknown past, that is so central to my work as well. This combination speaks to me so deeply.
In this sign the old type is presented in a new way with a background of beautiful rusted patina. The delicate script so effortlessly dances over the serif font behind it. Is it old, is it new? It really just doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful and it inspires me.