Weaving landscapes

5 September 2002

Artist Kim Lieberman's meticulously detailed artworks have caused a stir wherever they have been exhibited. One of her works, on view at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, takes a "detailed" look at the Amazon jungle.

The artwork is on an exhibition entitled "Landmark: visions of land in Africa", put together for the summit by the MTN Art Institute and curated by Nessa Leibhammer.

"At the first viewing the viewer is seduced by a topographical view of a well matured landscape with its cross hatchings of ploughed fields, dense shrubs and tall trees set against a field of digital pixels that are made up of silken green squares. On closer inspection , the threads that make up the matrix of greens take on the appearance of fibre optic cables, transferring nodes of information from one zone to another. Then an image of the Amazon jungle comes to mind, its trees systematically pulped into paper for book; books that can be ordered via Amazon.com," says Nessa.

"... [T]he intricate fields of coloured thread that make up Amazon.com (2000) by Kim Lieberman appears at first glance to embrace the meditative and repetitive processes of woman's craft, the rhythmic patterns of ploughed fields and the softly varied colour of growing vegetation. However the title alerts us to a more sinister meaning. It refers to the internet site 'Amazon.com' where subscribers worldwide can order books. The pulp used in the mass production of books and paper depends on the destruction of forests such as the Amazon for raw material. The grid-like pattern on the work might also remind us of aerial views of land in systematic deforestation."

-- For more information contact Kim Lieberman on (083) 292-1463 or kimlieberman@icon.co.za