The good stories aren’t about what is said. They are about what is left out. Guy Vording knows it. He removes more than he adds. He takes things away and hides them behind pigment until only fragments remain. With noise silenced by black, the page changes. A new story appears — the one that had always been there.
I asked Guy about Time to be.
Guy Vording: Since 2014, I have been working on my ongoing series Black Pages. While going through old, antique books and magazines, I look for the stories that lie behind the ones presented in their articles. By covering everything I don’t need with watercolor pencil, I create a scene—often intimate or tied to a dark memory—making it visible.
Most Black Pages are the size of an actual page because I use the entire page. But Time To Be is smaller. I wanted to capture a moment where loneliness is the main focus, though not in a negative way. At the same time, I wanted to show an emotion that remains uncertain. She could be exhausted, or she could be at ease. The words in this piece also play with that moment of loneliness.
The words in my pieces are already on the page, exactly where they appear. I don’t cut or paste anything—this is one of the important rules I’ve set for myself.