This interview was posted on our instagram page on 29 April 2020 as part of our #DistantSocialising series with Liliane Tomasko from her studio in Upstate New York.
Where are you currently working from and what is keeping you inspired and creative during this lockdown period?
I live and work near the Hudson River, in a place called Tappan. It’s not to far from NYC but in reality couldn’t be any different. My husband and I loved away from the city in 2012, when our son was three years old. It was one of the best things I ever did. Because this side of the Hudson is full of national parks, our garden is teeming with animals: deer, rabbit, racoons, groundhogs, chipmunks, lots of birds, and the occasional visits from black bears and cougars. Out studio is a short drive from where we live, and so we can take turns homeschooling and being with our boy, which gives both of us a little time to work everyday. To be honest my source of inspiration remains unchanged, and in a way has become even more pertinent now. As we are globally becoming aware of the possibility that the cause of our troubles, and what most of us perceive to be an exterior problem not related to each and every one of us, is in fact due to our refusal to see ourselves as the source of it all. This is something I explore over and over in my work, though a focus on the unconscious, that powerful force inside of us which cannot be domesticated.
Do you think this experience will leave to any positive changes in the way we live our lives and behave towards others?
That depends on how profound the changes to our lives are going to be. I do feel that we are at a crossroads, collectively speaking, and that we are being given the opportunity to become more conscious of how we as individuals affect our surroundings. We are invited to embrace a more simple and direct way of life, away from the rampant consumerism and superficial complexities we have seen creeping into our world during these last few decades. But whether the trumps of this world, and their global armies, will become more empathetic or caring towards others and other life forms as a result of this crisis, is extremely dubitable.
Please visit her website to take a deeper look at her work.