It's a Sign

It's a Sign

LibArt 2025

For many years, I’ve used the cotton-paper pages of my 1963 printing of Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud as the background for paintings and drawings. When displaying these works, I’ve frequently noticed viewers spending extra time reading the text on the page, presumably in an attempt to make meaning from the words combined with the imagery I created, despite the fact that absolutely no thought goes into the selection of the pages before I use them. As humans we are pattern-seekers. When our life experiences are unexplainable, we look for signs in nature, from stories, bones, tea, Tarot, slips of paper baked into cookies, the alignment of the stars - and, as with Dr. Freud, our dreams. We also use signs to communicate concrete meaning - for example: names, locations, and societal expectations. With their often elaborate silhouettes the shapes of signs contribute to the visual experience and feel of a place. This series, IT’S A SIGN, is at once a documentation of the unique sign shapes, I have found in my small adventures, and a tongue-in-cheek criticism of our human tendency to seek meaning in that which is merely coincidental.

Cassandra Liuzzo
Graduate Studies in Visual Art

2025

Belong to Creator

Acrylic on found paper
5.25" X 8.5"