Q&A with Joy Lieberman

1. How did you choose these specific pieces of art for the show?

I began this series of paintings at the beginning of the shelter in place order last March. Each piece marks a day during quarantine. The paintings are hung chronologically in the gallery, beginning on March 17th and ending on May 17th. (Please see my statement for more information).

2. How do they show your abilities as an artist?

Because I posted time-lapse videos of the paintings coming to life on social media each day, the project became all about sharing a little color during a dark time. It was my way of connecting with people from a distance. The subject matter meandered from week to week according to how I felt or what inspired me.

3. Which is your favorite piece of art that you put in the gallery?

My favorite pieces in the show are the series of hands and shadows. They speak to our being together and apart, near and yet distant.

4. Are these pieces recently or a collection of the last few years?

The paintings were created between March 17th and May 17th 2020.

5. What do you hope students learn from looking at your art?

In terms of content, these pieces for the most part, are not meant to communicate individual messages. In a way, they are as a whole, a sort of performance piece marking the moments that I painted and then shared them on Facebook and Instagram. I hope that in watching the process in the video, students may see that a painting doesn’t have to be fussy. Although I sometimes labor over pieces for weeks, these works were all created in an hour or less. The video also shows that from a technical standpoint, I constantly work in the round, never staying in one place too long. Just enough time to get to the point.