LISA MARIE BARBER
Artist Statement

I strive to have my work consist of several layers—physically with materials, and conceptually—to describe life as positive, elusive, and rich with sentiment and possibility. Many of my compositions use imagery from city life with objects densely arranged as if around an improvised, decorated shrine. Enveloped by these collections of objects, the life-size figures suggest the human condition.
Some pieces are simply combinations of my favorite elements: Figures, flowers, cars, planes, buildings, and expressive mark making. Other pieces hint at general or personal narratives. Within these, themes of celebration, loneliness, freedom, and fantasy are the foundation. In all, process is dominant. Boundaries are self-imposed and accumulation is validated as decoration—a way to beautify surroundings uninvolved with the pristine.
I am attracted to urban landscape because it is human existence manifest. Cities symbolize our collective experience, and for many of us, provide the backdrop to our days. I choose to view cities with romantic optimism: Skyscrapers are monuments to achievements in engineering; neighborhoods and apartments cradle our most tender, intimate, and sometimes challenging moments; human design and industry can make dream-like creations like planes, realized and experienced by the masses.
In the midst of all our achievements—sometimes even provoked by them—we are continuously searching for meaning and a better understanding of the self.