SUSAN LISBIN – DRESS UP – online solo exhibition – November 27, 2021

Fotocredit: photo courtesy of Sirpa Cowell

Susan Lisbin is a sculptor and painter from New York. In her work she deals with interpersonal relationships, sexuality and identity. It is therefore only logical that she likes to use biomorphic forms and plastically malleable material in her sculptural oeuvre.

As always, it is up to the recipient to determine what he or she sees in Susan Lisbin's work and it is certainly also the case that such interpretations can change over time. But I can feel the artist's commitment to be open to discussions and to encourage them. For me, the works evoke thoughts about gender characters and gender identities. What do masculinity and femininity mean and how do they express themselves in our time, and which non-binary gender identities are the focus of thought today? How open is our society and how does it deal with the "other"? Are past attributions and roles still valid and worth striving for today? What is the historical context of a development that continues to this day and brings things like the Gender Pay Gap Day or Gender Quota up for discussion. Susan Lisbin courageously addresses sexuality and identity and presents an opportunity to ponder and discuss the various topics and paradigms that can be derived from such works. If we look at her painterly work, we can say that here, too, she uses Abstract Expressionism to make statements about superiority and subordination, tension and other human interactions.

In our exhibition we show Susan Lisbin's sculptural work as well as her painting. The excellent works made available to us for this exhibition often have no title. These works are particularly expressive and meaningful and give even more space to let the work speak to us, if we will be willing to set our assumptions aside, and listen.

Text: Andreas Schlichtner, November 19, 2021 / edited by Kelly Dale