Text drawings from Michael Scoggins.

Several months ago, the Brooklyn-based couple of Michael Scoggins and Alex Gingrow were playing with paper during their residency at the Fountainhead, paper that would be formed into works for their show that is now at Diana Lowenstein Fine Art, “Your Forest For My Trees.” It’s an exhibit with depth, dialogue and is laid out in such a pleasing manner you’ll want to keep wandering around it – but it’s only open through June 6, so make sure you catch it before it comes down.

Although these are two separate shows, it is a collaboration of sorts, a really interesting one. First off, back to the paper: both shows are comprised of paper works with text, which makes the color-scheme to both predominantly black, gray and white. It’s as calming as the words at time are unsettling.

Start with the front room, where Scoggins’ scribblings are hanging. His work has been shown at DLFA numerous times (he is represented by the gallery), but you may also have encountered his work in galleries from New York to Seoul, or for instance at L.A.’s Hammer Museum. Across blown-up sheets of paper that look torn from a note-book, Scoggins has scrawled brief thoughts, ones that can resonate as solitary or sad, childlike and also loving. The sheets are crumbled, and one in fact is balled up on the floor, discarded as notebook scribblings often are. The naïveté here is intentional, not only in the simple phrases, but also in the presentation. In the computer age, taking pencil to paper has become increasingly rare, a relic of the “old days” of school in the 20th century.

Text drawings from Alex Gingrow.

It’s also clear that many of the words are written for Gingrow, in appreciation, in gratitude, in love. While they have a melancholy feel, they are not cynical – “I love you” scribbled here doesn’t have the aggressive edge that it might if, say, Tracey Emin had written it.

In the second room, Gingrow’s pieces also reference her partner, but more directly. She has lined up a series of desk-calendar diary pages meticulously — they are not crumpled, and they are all on one eye level. We travel through January 2013 with her, through thoughts that are not scrawled but typed. Well, not really; the lettering looks like it was made by a giant typewriter, but they are in fact hand drawn, again in meticulous fashion. The diary entries are very personal, at times even crude. She’s just thrown up; she feels fat; she’s waiting for Michael; Michael has treated her to a great birthday. Letters are xxxx-d out. Again, simple and moving.

In the back of the room is a desk with books of monthly diaries, which you put on white gloves to page through. A typewriter sits in the center. And the desk lamp throws a calming light over the whole space.

There’s a reason that these two are ones to watch on the art stage, and it’s in the gallery now.

“Your Forest for My Trees” runs through June 6 at Diana Lowenstein Fine Art, 2043 N. Miami Ave., Wynwood; www.dlfinearts.com.