Writing Love Letters isn’t something that I originally set out to do, but in hindsight, I recognize it’s almost a genetic thing. My parents - mostly my father - have written and received beautiful letters most of their lives, and the love of real letters is something my family and I adore together. 

It seems to me that writing hand written letters is one of the few spaces in life when we are truly connected to our hearts and souls.

I loved writing and designing my love-letter-in-motion to Oprah.  It was a way for me to test my courage, own my voice and my story, and to put out into the world the kind of meaningful creative project I would like to see. As always, we have to Be the change we want to see.

When I walked into Senga Nengudi’s “Topologies” exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with my mother, I knew almost immediately that she would be my next Love Letter. I was terrified at the idea, because this is all so new for me.

By “myself” I mean that I have come to learn over the last 12 years, how to listen to my intuitive heart, not the “I” that is my ego. If I had listened to my ego, and followed all the rules that are out there, I would have faded away into the woodwork. I have needed more than a decade to understand which space I am functioning from - ego or heart space - and how to grow my trusting, soft, heart space, and listen less to my ego’s protective fear.

After seeing the exhibit in 2016, I spent months researching and reading as much as I could on Senga Nengudi. The main source of information was the book “Topologies”, which accompanied the art exhibit and was published by the German company Hirmer Publishers.

The ‘Love’ part of this letter is about how Senga’s art affected and changed me. It isn’t just an adoration of HER, it is an adoration of how her art moved me into being more fully in my Heart. I write about this experience in the form of a love letter. 

I also wanted to design into this experience. It’s not something that is done in the design world, but I am all for doing something new. I want my art to be able to merge with her art, representing how art influences, inspires, and most of all, is life-giving. I have come to believe that through Art, there is new life. I merge elements of her art with small pieces of my art. Together, new, beautiful and interesting art happens, which is a reflection of my bigger heart space.

I am working primarily with approximately 45 art-representations of Senga Nengudi’s art, mostly her pantyhose sculptures.

I believe that Art changes us all, on a Soul level. It opens us up more, in spite of our Ego’s great resistance. If we were to interact with art more as a society, we would all be able to tap into new spaces and layers of our hearts. We would become softer with each other than we currently are.

I also wish that we could learn from people like Senga Nengudi who function from their Hearts and Souls. We need more Heart based teachers and leaders.

Ⓒ 2023 Anne Hunsicker | All Lines Are Beautiful. All rights reserved.