© Copyright 2014, Eliza M Schmid - All Rights Reserved
I KEEP SAYING THAT I COULD
PAINT STORIES FOR 1OO YEARS...

as a result of my
adventurous private
and professional life ; )
About My Work...

The themes of my paintings come out of my experience as a
psychoanalytically trained psychiatrist and from my social and political
worldviews, as well as from my baroque-Catholic upbringing in Europe, from
the fairytales of my childhood, and the cultural experience of a European
in America.

The strongest influence on my art comes from the Viennese School of
Fantastic Realism and from Friedrich Hundertwasser, from surrealism,
German Expressionism, Gustav Klimt, and some young contemporary New
York artists (Aaron Olshan, Sarah Bedford).

I like to tell stories with my paintings which often turn out to be whimsical,
tragic-comical, grotesque, about abnormal, surrealist mental conditions,
celebrating metamorphoses and transformations, human suffering and
dissolution. Many themes are about aging, disappearance of organic and
inorganic forms and their reappearance in altered shapes. For that reason I
like to paint in multiple layers and possibly overpaint everything in the end.

I used to paint mostly figuratively in oil, acrylic, and pastels. In the last
two to three years I have been painting more abstract or a mixture of
abstract with scattered realistic elements or collages of all imaginable
objects.. I also experiment with etchings, monoprints, and encaustic work,
tonal charcoal, and ink.

Some Background...

Born and raised in post World War II Vienna, Austria, I attended Medical
School at the University of Vienna which, lucky for me, turned out to be
the second best art school in town. The teachers made us copy human
anatomy from huge blackboards throughout medical school. After
graduation I specialized in Anatomic Pathology which demands some good
manual talents and recognition of visual patterns. In 1976 I received a
fellowship to Stanford University in California. I decided to stay in
California and do a residency training in psychiatry. I ended up working for
the State of CA and the County of Los Angeles for indigent patients, and
also as an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at the University of
California in Los Angeles. Later in life, in Santa Fe I attended the St. Fe
Community College for almost nine years, then moved to Albuquerque
where I continue taking painting classes at the UNM Extension. I am
represented by the "Johnsons Gallery" in Madrid, NM, and have shows at
the Tortuga Gallery, ,the Factory of 5th STreet, the Off Center Gallery,
the Center for Peace and Justice  and others in Albuquerque.
PLACES...
 
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"In a state steeped in fine art, there are more than a few who are great.  The work of Eliza M. Schmid serves as a vibrant reminder that two-dimensional art continues to thrive in New Mexico"
Weekly Alibi
  -article by: August March
   v
.23 No.38 | September 18 - 24, 2014
click here to read full article