A decade of my Joyce Lieberman series of Personal Archaeology collages stored in a folder were recently rephotographed. I noted the oldest one, CS72 used a glue gun and the PA 902, the latest in the collection made me realize I had made 1000 of them.
CS stood for Collage Square, CV stood for Collage Vertical and PA stood for Personal Archaeology.
This group explored unconventional shapes, other than the square or rectangular of most of them. Some had crowns and some had unusual shapes. All had cancelled postage stamps and bits of fabric and imagery that fell onto my work table. The idea was to dig through those layers like an Archaeological dig to find the surface of the table
That only happened when I left Venice, CA after 32 years. Found the top, not as interesting as the dig.
Also available in my Joyce Lieberman Fine Art America collection as a print on many surfaces.
This may be the oldest in this group.
PA506, “Sojourn”, 1996
Personal Archaeology: Collages, 1990–2001 presents a rare glimpse into Joyce’s decade-long exploration of memory and material. From a vast archive of more than 1,000 works, this focused selection of 14–20 collages highlights the artist’s distinctive use of postage stamps, fabric, pattern, and drawing. Each piece functions as a fragment of cultural excavation, transforming the overlooked and the ordinary into layered visual histories. Far from nostalgic, Joyce’s collages probe the ways in which fragments accrue meaning, offering a tactile counterpoint to the sleek surfaces of the digital age. The exhibition invites viewers to consider how the personal, when reframed, becomes a shared archaeology of time.
Joyce Lieberman 