Landscape Of a Family
2018
handmade lace, pencil, painted pins on paper
66 x 48cm
Although Landscape of a Family was a commissioned work it has the same ebb and flow of concept as the series of lace works from which it stems.
The lace circles and their stretches of thread signify events that happen, events that emanate out, be they a person’s life, a large public momentary event or something personal yet influencing. They of course point to the web, the matrix, the invisible threads that bind us to the bond of life.
Trees can be seen in many of Lieberman’s works. And in artists works throughout history, throughout landscape pairings, as symbolic. In this work Lieberman embraces both the historic landscape and the tree with all its references (tree of life, of knowledge... trees being the lungs of the world, and specific trees being specifically important to specific people). In this case the opportunity of using a tree in a place that is part of a Family is a unique way of making a portrait of a family. They know what it means to them. They understand where that tree is, what that space is for them specifically. We are left on the outside in some ways. Yet in others many of us have our own trees. So we know we just don’t know the details of that family.
The plane too, is symbolic - of long distance communication. Planes in essence are about human travel. That we can personally get from one place to another, often to connect with other humans at our destination. Planes can be personal, as this one is. It means something. In fact more than travel it means the enjoyment of the journey. To be lifted above earth in and of itself.