ciphertext

Petra Schulze-Wollgast is an artist with the ability to develop new, striking designs through experimentation with only the contents of the typographer’s case. In her print series ciphertext the building blocks are not many but they are varied and combined in ever new and surprising ways. The large coloured blocks are created using the backsides of large wood types.

Together, the seven images in the ciphertext series represent a typographical anagram but like all good anagram-makers psw allows herself minor irregularities that are not too obvious at first sight.

ciphertext is also psw’s tribute to one of the great pioneers of typographic art, the Dutchman H N Werkman. Werkman was probably the first person to put colour onto the backsides of types in order to create blocks and shapes that no printer had hitherto imagined. psw has used that technique in the ciphertext series.

Timglaset Editions is very proud to publish ciphertext by petra schulze-wollgast in a handbound edition of 60 copies. This book has 20 pages in a 20×20 cm format,high quality digital print, and a grey cardboard cover with the title and psw’s signature rubberstamped in black.