Artists from “Liminal: Spaces Between”
From March 1 until March 31 2017, Margaret Schmitz and Hannah Oreskovich featured an art exhibit in the Viterbo University Gallery. Their show was titled “Liminal: Spaces Between.” It included monoprints, paintings, and etchings. Along with the exhibit, they had an opening reception March 8.
Schmitz and Oreskovich’s artwork in the show focused on the between time and everyday life. In reference to titling the show Oreskovich wrote, “Very rarely do we give affirmations towards the objects and people we encounter on a daily basis because they come across as less significant.” The artists welcomed the spaces in between the major events of life, and they tried to convey that idea into their art.
Schmitz completed most of her artwork before they created the title for the art show, while she was in Florence, Italy. To bring the artwork back, she stated, “I folded up the paintings and put them into my suitcase praying they would be okay.” Oreskovich created a few of her pieces before coming up with the liminal concept for the art show, but she completed most of her pieces afterward.
In the show, many of Oreskovich’s pieces dealt with ink and printmaking. Oreskovich’s favorite piece was “Dual.” This piece was a print of her dog, so it had special meaning to her. Many of her ideas for these pieces came from the outdoors, photography, or her everyday life. Some artists that inspire Oreskovich are Paul Klee, because she is trying to create some more abstract art, and Wayne Thiebaud, because he creates similar subject matter to her. Oreskovich is currently working on more prints with vegetables and fruit as the subject matter. She thinks that she is going to try printing them onto t-shirts.
For the show, Schmitz’s paintings explored the concept of communication. She stated, “It was a lot of fun to create, but difficult to come up with ways to convey it at times.” In her paintings, she ended up using telephones and televisions to convey the themes of her pieces, Schmitz reflected, “I’m really drawn to my surroundings and the 60s and 70s.” Her favorite piece in the show is “Center of Attention.” Schmitz thought this piece was enjoyable to paint, and she really enjoyed the color scheme. Some artists that she is inspired by include Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel and Mark Rothko. Schmitz is also inspired by indoor buildings especially historical homes and wallpaper and floors. Currently, she is working on ceramics and a photography book on the artshow.
For the opening reception, Oreskovich commented on amount of people that attended, stating that more people came than the expected. She also stated that they received great feedback, and said quiet a few people told them, “This is art you can see hanging in a house.” Schmitz gave similar feedback, and said she learned a lot from the experience.