Lisa Liedgren's paintings depict sequential phases of the moon over a period of time relating to particular historical events. The succession of crescents and circles organized on a grid result in a three-dimensional optical effect that varies in depth as the viewer moves around the painting. The paintings titled Tom and Nicole and 1939-1945 relate to the length of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s marriage and World War II respectively. The moon cycles in Freedom begin with the events of 2001 and Le Deuxieme Sexe with the commencement of Simone de Beauvoir’s writing of her book “The Second Sex.” The end point of these two pieces is determined according to the size of the canvas.

Liedgren’s previous works of painted dots within grids have explored patterning and color within an organized structure. In these most recent paintings, she develops this visual investigation by addressing conceptual issues. With her color palette, simple patterns, and systemized process, Liedgren presents historical events imbued with violence, media sensation, or liberation in the cool, objective terms of lunar cycles. By focusing on the passage of time rather than on the accretion of human events, Liedgren offers a re-evaluation of history as an arbitrary flow of information rather than a grand narrative of sequential events.