The Chrysalis and the Butterfly

On April 16, we held an art exhibit entitled “Sinners and Saints” at Red Bank Community Church. We hold two exhibits a year, inviting artists from around the country to participate.

We had lots of great pieces for the show. Canadian Nobel Peace Price nominee Sharon Sargent sent us some of her remarkable courtroom sketches, accompanied by descriptions of each case. The sketches were hung on a clothesline with clothespins to create a piece she called “Dirty Laundry.” The depiction of murderers and rapists on trial fit well with our theme.

The exhibit started off with a great live “light painting” performance by Eva Flatscher and her accompanist Mavis Pan. Brooke Campbell also came down from NYC to favor us with her beautiful singing.

Local artist Sheilagh Casey contributed a really fun piece she called “Christian Training Kit.“ It consisted of a box with a mirror and a stone inside. It invited viewers to look at themselves and then cast the stone if they found themselves to be without sin.

One of the pieces I did was called “A Gallery of Saints.” It was a series of photographs that I took of members of our congregation and turned them into faux icons by adding a halo of gold leaf. In keeping with traditional portraits of saints, each person was photographed with some symbolic object to represent their identity: a mop, a plate of cookies, a bow and arrow, an apple, a Bible, etc. People were a bit surprised to see themselves depicted as saints—because we know we are far from it. Yet we also know that we are set apart for sanctification because of what Jesus has done, is doing and will do on our behalf.

In the middle of the room, I put up an installation called “Chrysalis.” It was essentially two white mosquito nets sewn together, hanging from the ceiling, forming a triangle with an opening on one side. Viewers were invited to enter it and invite God to change them. Below you can find a brief video of the installation.

Near the end of the exhibit, I noticed a little miracle. Even though there were no open windows in our space—and we are on the second floor of a commercial building with only one regular-sized door downstairs—a little white butterfly somehow managed to land on “Chrysalis.” It was oddly affirming.

Wurzeln 1

The concept for this exhibit came to me a year ago. It felt like God just sort of dropped it into my consciousness. I carried it with me for about a year – although I was only able to work on it sporadically until about three months before the exhibit date.

The concept came to fruition at the exhibit opening on Saturday, October 16. The title of the exhibit was Wurzeln, which is German for “roots.” And roots were the symbol I wanted to use to express how my father-in-law Lee Liebmann was uprooted as a fourteen-year-old boy in Germany.

To express this idea, I wanted real roots from the town where Lee grew up. A family friend was willing to dig up some roots from Lee’s hometown of Limburg – as well as the village of Ellar where previous generations of Liebmanns had lived for centuries before. Since roots are considered agricultural goods, our friend was not able to mail them to me. So my friend gave them to another friend, who I met when I went to Germany myself in September. I took the roots across the border to Switzerland when I drove there to visit my Mom – and then packed them into my suitcase and brought them with me to the US. The path the roots took actually re-traced the path many Jews took to freedom during WWII.

In the exhibit, the roots are simply laying on a glass table. They symbolize the lost past of the Jewish communities in Limburg and Ellar. A single red thread represents the divinely preserved connection from the roots to the family Lee started in the United States.

About the exhibit

This exhibit is a celebration of the life of Lee Liebmann, a Jewish American who was born in Limburg, Germany and was forced to flee for his life when he was only 14 years old. By celebrating this life, this exhibit also honors the larger story of Europe’s Jews—who, in addition to perishing by the millions in Nazi concentration camps, were also compelled by the destruction of their historic communities to make entirely new lives for themselves in new lands.

Blessing Doves

During the opening of the 9-11 art show in Ansbach, Germany, I met up with my friend Sandra Ceas. Both of us had artwork on display at the show. Sandra was the keynote speaker and I had the honor of lighting a candle in remembrance of those who died on 9-11 and those who died in the ensuing conflicts.

One of Sandra's ongoing projects is to release white clay doves as a symbol of blessing and peace. She places her doves in unlikely spots, in the hope that somebody will find them. Each handmade dove will be an unexpected blessing to somebody. You can find information and photos about this project at www.art4him.net

Sandra gave me seven doves to take back to Switzerland. It was such a joy to set them out. Finding the 'right' place for them was special and even exciting. On two occasions, the dove was found and taken within half an hour. I had returned from my walk and passed by the same spot where I had placed the dove. It was empty now. The big smile stayed on my on my face for quite a while. And now, just thinking of it, the smile is revisiting my face.

Deadline Approaching

I have received over three hundred cards so far. Help me reach my goal of five hundred cards by the end of this month.

Call for Participation

Art for Stripes 2010

To support wounded Soldiers and other heroes returning home from the battlefield,

International Arts Movement and Reflections of Generosity are working together to create a

CD with songs about restoration and healing. In order to make every CD

special, we plan on including original artwork inside the cover of each CD.

Our goal is to have five hundred art pieces by July 31, 2010. Selected cards will be exhibited

in Katterbach Germany for the 9-11 memorial ceremony.

Size: 4.75" x 4.75" (must fit into CD jewel case)

Surface: Card stock or paper

Medium: Any medium that does not interfere with CD

Fee: None

You may submit as many cards as you like. Please put personal words of encouragement, a

poem, or anything else you think would be appropriate on the back of the cards.

Please send completed cards to:

Art for Stripes

Gerda Liebmann

1 William Street

Highlands, NJ 07732