Interview
Miriama Schniererová
Miriama Schniererová is a Slovakian born artist.
She is currently the mother of two boys, so she is very inspired by childlike drawing. Her sons and her paint and draw together in their free time. Miriama’s new canvases are co-works made with her older son Leo (age 3). His drawings are combined with Miriama’s painted parts on one canvas, and she doesn’t supervise him in his creation in any way.
Miriama has showcased her work in multiple solo and group exhibitions in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I have always been attached to drawing and painting since I was child, from as early as kindergarten. All of the school tables were decorated and painted by me, and I spent much of my time participating in local art competitions.
I was never able to imagine myself doing anything else other than art. So I was occupied by my artworks and continued to an art high school, where I studied promotional graphics. Later, I attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia and studied Painting.”
“Everything inspires me; I see art everywhere.”
What inspires you most?
“I find inspiration from all parts of life and the world around me. The only negative thing is that I can't turn it all into art! But the strongest moments that inspire me are daily life, nature and traveling.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“Freedom, death, life, abandoned places, landscapes, objects, and human figures. These are all themes inspired from childhood times. Nowadays my main theme is color itself and finding its strategies.”
“I enjoy creating paintings which are not readable at first sight, so the viewer has to search for the main point or object, so to speak.”
How would you describe your work?
“My artwork is colorful, structural, created mostly by lots of combined techniques and materials. I love to experiment with each painting and make it unique. I have periods when I prefer more abstract paintings or more realistic ones. My paintings look mostly like a kind of wall paint coating or plaster, with some rust or scratched effects on it. I spend hours layering the surfaces with paint, that can be seen at the end.”
Which artists influence you most?
“My biggest inspiration is Damien Hirst – his spectrum of art creations, sculptures, paintings, installations and the themes and topics which he chooses, such as death, origin, life, and infinity. His endless fantasy fascinates me.
I also love Gerhard Richter, mostly his paintings with the blurred effect. Ruby Sterling and his abstract canvases filled with rich colors, so dramatic and strong, are also an influence for me.”
What is your creative process like?
“In past years, I was creating my paintings with the help of photography and images from magazines, but now it's more dynamic, intuitive work that I create. These works are made with applying paint on canvas and dropping, covering, and creating patterns on the surface with lots of colors and art materials like acrylic, wax, plaster, inks, charcoal, pastel, spray, glue and more. After this process, I try to find some realistic element in each painting, or I leave it as a whole abstract. It depends on my mood or on the composition that was created.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist's role should be to bring to viewers what they need in their life at that moment – what they need to see, hear or feel. To fill the viewer with wisdom, information or truth. Art should not be just a thing to hang on the wall in some lovely apartment. Art should shout out some ‘aura’ which we can connect to.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Solo:
2019 - Tears will return, Prostor 39, Prague, Czech Republic.
2017- Shadows of light, Gallery of E. Zmeták, Nové Zámky, Slovakia.
2016 - Full moon, Spp Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Psychedelia, Gallery of J. Koniarek, Trnava, Slovakia.Group:
2020 - Interconnections, Komárno, Slovakia.
2019 - Zlín Design Week, Zlín castle, Zlín, Czech Republic.
Another move , Slovak Arts Union, Bratislava, Slovakia.
The golden garden - Művésztelep, Kortárs gallery, Dunajská streda, Slovakia.
Techniques of remembering, Mirbachov palace, Bratislava, Slovakia.”
Website: www.mirindish.com
Instagram: @mirindish
