Mother and Son. (1-2/2)
The work is in a similar stylistics to “Paradise”. The artist again used the formula of Soviet children's book to, while introducing his own interpretative solutions, give the work a new meaning. Mother and son recalls some other Libera's works about social and gender roles, especially the place of women within the frame of societal institutions.
The beginning of working over this subject, noticeable in “Mother and son”, will be later realised ona larger scale and I other projects, made already in the 1990s (among others, works „How Girls Are Tamed”, “Ken's Aunt” or „You Can Shave The Baby“).
Libera not only refers critically to purely aesthetical aspect of objects created for children, thanks to which they can learn functioning with society.
Through giving a new name, we notice the relationship between characters included in it – innocent playing of mother and child is in fact a preparation of a girl to her future social role, which is imposed on her since the very early years. A playing boy begins to understand, that he will be able to spend the rest of his life under the protection of women-guardians, first his mother, then his wife. In this work, Libera shown, how many of our life choices and decisions relies on scheme of behaviour inherited from home, and at the same time, how hard it is to escape those oppressive norms.
