Miriam Herlin

Numbers & Letters Series

One rarely takes the time to view letters and numbers on their own. We encounter them as familiar necessities, lines and shapes arranged into recognizable symbols of communication.

Typography is, at its most basic, the design and arrangement of letterforms into words and sentences. Yet beyond their practical function, letters and numbers possess a visual language of their own. They are the fundamental building blocks of written language and mathematical representation: letters construct words and convey ideas, while numbers express quantity, measurement, and data. Together with symbols, they create systems that enable communication across cultures and contexts. Even the spacing between characters can influence meaning, shaping tone and emotion much like a painter’s gesture.

Numerical and alphabetical symbols carry widely understood associations. These familiar references became my point of entry into this body of work.

Like a narrative unfolding, each piece evolves through layered accumulations of letters and numbers. Surfaces are painted, scraped, and reworked, revealing traces of earlier states beneath. At first glance, the viewer may expect recognizable words or equations to emerge. Instead, these familiar forms gradually dissolve into a new visual language, one that invites interpretation beyond conventional reading.

Through repeated applications of paint, I build surfaces that are both painterly and sculptural. Grids of acrylic impasto create compositions that feel structured yet organic, exposing fragments of underlying layers. Through the accumulation of marks, the surface shifts between solidity and illusion, inviting the viewer to experience the work in an active and evolving way.

Colour plays a central role in this process. Immediate and powerful, it shapes perception, evokes emotion, and carries cultural resonance. Whether subtle or intense, calming or energizing, colour functions as both a visual and psychological force. Although colour is all around us, we often overlook its ability to communicate, evoke emotion, and create meaning.

In this series, letters and numbers move beyond their conventional purpose. They become shape, texture, rhythm, and colour. Familiar forms transformed into an abstract visual language.