Incisive Letterwork

Artist statement

Concepts
Incisive Letterwork focuses on large scale architectural inscriptions and word sculpture. We are committed to our great loves which are materials, particularly but not exclusively stone, letters and text. We are interested in every aspect of letterform. Sometimes we use it in a straightforward informative manner as for example in the stones for the National Portrait Gallerys Ondaatje Wing. We always design letters and text specifically for each site. In the NPGs case although the layouts are formal the use of capital letters for the text and lower case letters for the names is an unusual juxtaposition reflecting the human scale of the works in the museum. We sometimes move into more sculptural, abstract or decorative forms of text as reflected in the fascia stones for Oldham Museum. We are interested in using historical scripts in a contemporary way, see Inceptis Gravibus which uses Roman Square capitals of the fourth century complemented by smaller flourished and gilded letters. Some of our preoccupations are to do with the possibilities of abstraction, geometry and the limitations of legibility "what is there and what is not there and why" as illustrated by Presence and Absence. Lettering has many aspects and it is because of this ubiquity (in print, TV & film, graphics, signage and so on) that one sometimes feels it has almost become invisible. Through words and their physical manifestation Incisive Letterwork aims to encourage people to look, look again and to think and dream. We hope our work is both inspirational and aspirational.

Career path
Incisive Letterwork was formed in 1988 by Brenda Berman and Annet Stirling. They first met at the City and Guilds of London Art School where they studied lettering with Berthold Wolpe. Brenda Berman had previously trained as a painter at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, Annet Stirling as a graphic designer at AKI Enschede, Netherlands.

In 1996 they were awarded a Churchill Fellowship and travelled to Italy studying Roman and Renaissance inscriptions and looking at marble.
They have taken part in all major lettering exhibitions and had two solo shows: The Ground Beneath Our Feet in 2000/2001 and Heavens above in 2005.
They are founder members of Letter Exchange, Annet Stirling was chairman of the organisation 1994-1997 and is currently its treasurer

Notable clients include: Baden State Library Karlsruhe, British Museum, Dolby, Eastman Dental Hospital, Esso, Exeter Cathedral, Garrards, Glaxo-Wellcome, Granada with LDC, Hitachi, Houses of Parliament, Kunsthalle Hamburg, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Oldham Museum, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Opera House, Said Business School Oxford.

For further details please visit their website.