« Calligraphies Cosmiques »
on paper

In 2021, Catherine de Saugy launched a series of cosmic abstract works on black Fabriano paper, titled Calligraphies Cosmiques, in which each composition asserts itself as a contemporary cosmic calligraphy. Drawn to the visual power of the cosmos and fascinated by images of the stars, she works on black paper—a rare support that enables a deep resonance between contrast, light, and abstraction.

The pieces—70 × 50 cm—are created with broad, expressive gestures. The unconventional black ground amplifies the light of the colors—white, yellow, red, ochres—which burst forth like painted constellations. These abstract works on black paper are traversed by semi-autonomous signs that trace the universe’s fluidity, life trajectories, arcs of energy, and points of anchoring—true emotional cartographies of inner space.

De Saugy describes these compositions as calligraphies in weightlessness: “life trajectories, arrows of freedom and emotions, bits of intuition, a musical and cosmic calligraphy.” She interweaves philosophy, memory, cosmos, and visual writing, creating a poetics of symbol and infinity in every stroke. Colored signs become suspended stars, lines become celestial routes, and the black ground becomes a visual universe where light takes on meaning.

This series is also a tribute to Jean Miotte, whose pictorial energy is a major source of inspiration. The artist integrates this legacy into her own abstract vocabulary, fusing cosmos-inspired abstraction with a singular gestural script.

Catherine de Saugy’s cosmic calligraphies embody an aesthetic of great visual force—at once lyrical, profound, and contemplative. They resonate with a sense of infinity and universal poetry, bringing forth a new luminosity and emotion, carried by a cosmic writing that is both simple and powerful.