From figurative paintings through more abstract sculptural forms, Ioanna Limniou explores how ordinary people exist and celebrate life and nature. Her vivid landscapes—the meadows, hills, and lakes—depict the awayness and real beauty of the wild and pure nature. The core of agriculture is the main factor that shapes her way of creativity. This enables her to scrutinize the socio-cultural dimensions embedded in agricultural livelihood. Limniou’s visualizations bring out the most significant interconnectedness between people (communities) and the wider natural environment while at the same time, glorifying the human factor bound to these ecosystems alongside the impression of the scenes that are landscapes (“Bearing His Soul” & “Self Portrait”, 2024).
The body language of her characters imbues an inherent simplicity into the whole painting, it is as if their energy seamlessly harmonizes with the overall composition. The use of color imbues her works with painterly warmth, thereby making an engaging and dynamic experience for viewers. Her images concentrate on the ties that exist among people, animals, and nature and they naturally emerge from the heart of the folk values and rural practices. In her paintings people and animals live together quietly in a balanced landscape, which makes them innocent yet active figures of life. Each piece was its own, with a stem sprouting out of the bushy shrub, exuding an alive sense of vibrancy. The artist’s primary media is oil paints on canvas, and she uses them with a strong personal touch and a characteristic structure of bricked-up forms which are the basic strokes of each colored stroke. Paintings such as “Fertile Ground”, “Bedtime Story,” and “Hometown” are a perfect match for this approach. Details whisper out an illusory depth when seen up close, while the whole picture unveils itself as a multihued narrative from a distance.
words: Yannis Kostarias
The recent palette is a range of brighter, warmer, and more joyful colors like pink, orange, and green while her newest pieces seem to be more about thoughtful and mellow the cool blues and whites. Impactful and daring as standing out will always remain the trademark of whose works come alive through the use of vivid, almost screaming colors to create a jarring contrast with her natural backdrops. Her characters appear to be part of the painting process, leading out uncertainty as to where the story begins and ends. The abstracted forms in the pattern designs embody a captivating presence that pulls the reader’s view to contribute to a unifying visual language done in multiple layers, thus, resulting in one coherent piece of work.
When it comes to color, Limniou can be seen working on one color at a time, trying out lighter or darker, and warmer or cooler tones. For example, “Hometown” is paid in blues, while the other songs named “From Downtown”, “At Low Tide”, and “Though as a Ghost, I Shall Lightly Tread, the Summer Fields” (2024) speak about various kinds of green. The mentioned pieces often include a more abstract composition, whereas the ones with mixed colors correspond with her figurative iconography. Besides that, the figures she makes appear to be part of the environment entirely; the contrast of the lighter and the darker hues is allowing the figures to be more pronounced on the canvas. This continuous change in the dynamics of the painting style is leading to the expression of the unity and vagueness of both her technique and her painting style.
Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
Paint, destroy, repeat.
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?
Human presence, and absence, in the world.
You are currently presenting your new solo exhibition, “Bedtime Stories”, at Enari Gallery in Amsterdam; what sort of new artworks do you showcase at this exhibition?
‘Bedtime stories’ is a series of paintings based on some flickering images that came in the moments before sleep, while I was on the island of Tinos. The blue palette just seemed to fit both the idea of the sea and the moonlit nights, and it was something that contrasted with my previous work from islands that was full of sun and heat. So I stuck with it.
Could you share with us some insights on your painting “Hoffman” (2024)? Is there any particular story behind this new work?
Hoffman was a work that started as a large canvas of flowers. I couldn’t figure out where to go with it, but then I thought it would be nice to have someone on a bicycle riding through a forest of huge flowers. I thought, ‘that’s cool.’ A friend responded to the painting by telling me the story of Albert Hoffman on his bike, feeling the effects of LSD for the first time. Bicycle Day they call it now. It’s seemed perfect to me. I’d like to explore this some more.
Looking at your polychromatic paintings, it seems that you are applying a particular range of colours on your canvases. For instance, green, pink or blue are some basic pale colour components in your newest body of work; which are (roughly) the right conditions that lead you to choose the right colour combinations on each painting?
What makes me choose the colours, eh? Wow that’s difficult. I obsess over the colours. I get obsessed with one colour at a time I think. I remember learning about caput mortum for the first time, I went crazy. The history of how the colour was made, what it was used for. But then sometimes the colour will arrive on the palette and it will hit me the same way as say, the strength and warmth of people dancing together. Or a walk in the park on the first days of spring. New leaves. Again flowers of course. I guess these are all natural colours, all part of the elements. Living in a city perhaps makes me yearn for them. I also admire the colour combinations of Japanese art. For example looking at Hokusai’s palette, or Hiroshige, they are so sophiscated but natural and true.
Your titles often hide an interesting story, tell us about naming your paintings; do their titles come up in your mind before your start creating a new work or could it be the opposite?
The titles always come after. Every time I’ve come up with a title first, I failed in the end. My titles are super simple and can be really obvious. Sometimes just describing the scene, or sometimes a bit poetic. Sometimes the title comes from my friends around the table, and we put it to a vote. It’s the emotions that comes up in the others that interests me and that can help a lot.
It feels that your newest body of work incites a sort of an abstract approach rather than the recent past of your painting technique which used to present more clear figurative elements. Would you be alternatively interested in paintings with even a more abstract approach in the future or would it be something that does not apply to your artistry?
I don’t think it works that way for me, to be honest. If it feels more abstract and that works, then great, but I’m exploring the medium and finding something new every time, trying to go deeper into it. But not pushing myself in any particular direction. The only thing that I can be sure of is that I’m guided by nature, and our place in it. Or out of it.
Can you mention any artists you, lately or generally, take inspiration from?
David Hockney. Katherine Bradford – I love her. Noah Davis. Theophilus. Greek folk art.
Marianne Werefkin.
What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like?
I work in an old building in the center of Athens. It was built in the 1920s. I share the space with two close artist friends and that is great for me, to have that sense of community where I’m working.
Which are your plans for the near future?
Well, I just brought back some great oil colours from London, so the plan is to paint. Pure and simple.
All images courtesy of the artist, Enari gallery & Breeders gallery