Leah Giberson
A skillfully painted exploration of metallic icons of American Modernism.
From Leah Giberson:
My current body of work explores the intersection between fact and fiction and the search for a more personal truth that lives somewhere in between. I begin each piece with a photographic image, which I print in sections, cut up and reassemble onto a panel. I then paint over the entire image, covering up and altering anything that feels unnecessary or distracting while turning up the volume on the parts that resonate with me. My process echoes the way we each edit and reconstruct our own memories in an attempt to find meaning in our experiences and reinforce our existing narratives.
I have been captivated by small mid-century suburban homes for as long as I can remember and they were the primary subjects of my paintings for years. My trailer paintings began as an offshoot of that series and I
approach these tiny homes on wheels in very much the
same way -- isolating them from much of their original surroundings, so I can unearth clues in looming shadows: empty chairs out front, doors left slightly ajar, glimpses through parted window curtains -- all in an attempt to piece together (imagined) underlying stories of the trailers themselves and those who might live inside them or store them out back.
These trailers are full of compelling contradictions: simplicity versus complexity, security versus freedom, glamour versus mundanity. Over the years I have continued to delve deeper and deeper into the minutiae found in the distorted reflections on the shiniest of trailers, inevitably discovering a complex and nuanced world I completely missed at first glance.
Though her work typically depicts suburban scenes, Leah Giberson was raised by artists deep in the woods of New Hampshire. She received her BFA in painting from Massachusetts College of Art in 1997 and has lived in the Boston area ever since. She made her living as an interactive designer, animator and art director for over ten years, but now paints full time.