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Faculty

Lin Lisberger

Part-time of Fine Art
Art Dept.
University of Southern Maine
E-mail: lbl@ maine.rr.com

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Lin Lisberger has been teaching drawing, sculpture, and three-dimensional design at USM since 1981. She has shown extensively throughout the state and have several commissions. Lin is an active community member and is currently serving on the Portland Public Art Committee. Lin's sculptures are made with wood rib parts in an intuitive way, trying to follow the curves of the wood.She works to create forms which echo many possible images--shields, helmets, fossils, farm tools, Japanese tree supports, a quick drawing. Each sculpture is a sketch of a moment in time and place--in the life of the tree and in the balance between strength and fragility in humans and nature.

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Artist Statement

I am predominantly a wood carver and have been for most of my sculpture career. Over time my sculptures have echoed many images--the figure, shields, Japanese tree supports, baskets, a quick drawing. Each sculpture is a sketch of a moment in time and space and the life of the tree. My interests have been in expressing peace, sanctuary, compassion, and the balance between fragility and endurance in humans and nature. Often my work has been reflective of the human form, either as a direct representation or protection for it, or as a look at the interior structures, both physical and mental. Form will always be a major concern along with a sense of time and place.

The wood I use is native New England wood. Some of these pieces are meant to appear fragile or sometimes ephemeral, but they are sturdily constructed with healthy wood. I have occasionally incorporated plaster and drawing and even "wear-ability" to add plasticity and spontaneity to my sculpture. I usually scale my work to human size to create a sense of safety and intimacy.

I live and work in the woods of New England; being attuned to the natural world around me--the wind-driven autumn storms or the quiet slipping of snow as it glides off a brown leaf--gives me a sense of place in the world, and an impulse to hold onto memories and dreams. In my sculptures, as I call up and ponder these experiences, I hope to draw others into catching and holding their sense of place and their memories and dreams.