The Liminal State Panels

“Each of us has, at some moment, stood in a place looking outward and were transformed by what we saw. At some other moment, we sat and looked inward and were renewed spiritually.  In both instances, we experienced a ‘liminal state.’ This exhibit is about those times when the artist experienced these kinds of moments which are simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary.  They have inspired the body of work you see today.”

Barbara Lucero Sand, curator

The four walls of “The Liminal State Panels” are meant to be viewed together as one cohesive statement. Each wall has its own meaning; however the significance of the work is experienced by contrasting the individual images to the ones hanging opposite. Most viewers are drawn to “The Path to Freedom,” the large panels depicting energetic beings bathed in soft green light playing within a water-like environment. These beings are not bound by earthly gravity and there is no aversion or fear manifested as self-doubt or criticism. They are all filled with joy while dancing, riding waves of light or resting peacefully.

The Path to Freedom – 174 x 102

Self Imprisonment – 174 x 102

Turning around to “Self-Imprisonment,” the other large set of panels, there is a presence of oversized figures who directly confront the viewer from behind illuminated bars. Behind the grid of their self-imposed prison stand isolated individuals crowded into a dark cave. They represent the anguish that we can experience when looking outside ourselves for answers about life’s meaning. Many of us depart this world with regrets, represented here by the smoldering clouds floating in the atmosphere above the figures.

Liberation – 78 x 102

Of the two smaller panels, “Liberation” exhibits an androgynous single figure who appears uplifted or in pain. Multiple and random energy moves in all directions. This being is connected to a web of awareness comprised of our bodies along with a spacious sky and shimmering earth. This is the matrix that we belong to, where we come from and to whence we return. We all want to be free from suffering, both mental and physical. This panel exhibits the opportunity for happiness when we decide to merge into the sublime, ever present, and boundless energy surrounding us. This release of energy implies we can leave everything behind to embrace freedom if we are so focused.

Suffering – 66 x 102

For those who believe we are limited by our physicality, the “Suffering” panel with three figures illustrates the vision that the absolute certainty of our mortality and frailty is dark and depressing. The panel reveals an elderly man, a former athlete now unable to walk; a maimed and disfigured individual whose deformities are a result of leprosy; a deceased woman, disemboweled in the prime of her life. These somber figures tower over a landscape whose parched rocks symbolize the wasteland produced when our species’ desire to dominate phenomenon outside of ourselves prevails. In this panel, we appear to be defined by our bodies and subject to aging, sickness, and death. The vision of our life as filled with the burdens of inevitable degradation can be seen as morose but is this our true nature? The “Liminal State Panels “comprised of four component images, points to a different conclusion.

“The Panels do not depict one point in time or space but rather reflect four aspects of the human experience – spiritual truth, physical bondage, mental suffering, and the possibility of a life of freedom. Seen together, they elicit the process of maturation through which we as individuals, and collectively as a culture, are journeying.”

-Rob Rikoon, artist