Sigismund's Watch: A Tiny Catastrophe

Barbara Loftus’s figurative paintings and works in other media are known for their exploration of the interface between personal memory and historical events. In her cycle of artworks, Sigismund’s Watch, which takes its subtitle from the writings of the cultural critic Siegfried Kracauer, she reflects on the convergence of public and private life in a study of trans-generational memory. By means of her paintings, bookworks, and archival material she focuses on a day long ago in the life of her mother Hildegard during the economically volatile Weimar period in Germany. The work is accompanied by three studies of Loftus's work which identify recurrent themes, imagery, and influences.