Sophie Jodoin, 2013, Letter 4 [conté on mylar, 35.5 x 28 cm]
Sophie Jodoin, 2013, Letter 8 [conté on mylar, 35.5 x 28 cm]
Sophie Jodoin, 2013, Letter 7 [conté on mylar, 35.5 x 28 cm]
Sophie Jodoin, 2013, Letter 9 [conté on mylar, 35.5 x 28 cm]
Jodoin feels she is drawing “the last remnants of something. They represent the loss of a gesture, of a way in which we used to communicate. The new generation has never even written a letter, so for them it is not even nostalgia. The letter is a relic.”
Rhubarb Pyjamas 
Hi Justine, this may be a little off base but when looking at those rendered drawings of envelopes it reminded me of something I have just read in ‘The Antiques Magpie’ by Marc Allum. Under the heading of ‘Crash Mail’ in regard to collecting stamps (philatelists)….”there are several other specialist areas within the hobby; one in particular is the collecting of ‘crash covers’. In philatelic terms this means mail retrieved from air crashes, shipwrecks, train crashes and other accidents. The mail is generally marked as recovered or damaged before being sent on. It may sound morbid but it’s a popular facet of collecting, particularly early air-related accidents; imbued with a sense of tradgedy and history, they provide a tangible reference to events such as the Hindenberg airship at Lakehurst, New jersey on 6 May 1937. Some 367 items out of 17,609 pieces of mail survived that disaster and now sell for an average of 10,000 – 30,000 [pounds] each.”
Julie
That’s fascinating to think about, it really highlights the fact that a letter goes on its own physical journey that neither the writer nor the recipient is part of. How amazing to think of the adventures they have without us knowing!