Aimilia Liontou – Local Artist 2020 to 2022 – a summary
Foto 1: Aimilia Liontou
Foto 2: Violetta Wakolbinger
Foto 3: Clemens Mairhofer
I graduated in October 2019 from the Kunstuniversität Linz and back then I was unsure for what is coming next and how am I gonna deal with the “world” outside of the safe academic environment. Salzamt came the right moment and it was the perfect space to help me with the transition from the art-student life to the independent artist. It was the first time that I had a space on my own to work on my projects and this was a pretty big step for me. I also fall in love with the view of Donau and Pöstlingberg.
In the beginning it was not an easy task, since my stay there coincided with the Pandemic, so it required a lot of adaptability to the new and constantly changing conditions from all of us. However now, while I am approaching the end of my stay, I believe the summary is definitely a positive one! Though these 2 years I had the chance to get to know better the Salzamt team and the other Local artists, to meet many international artists and to make some nice memories with that place.
Important steps and highlights…
The Pandemic and the Lockdowns were quite challenging and affected the artistic production a lot. As a result, the most important thing for me during these 2 years, was to maintain an artistic routine, my motivation and my curiosity. Also, I had the chance to develop further some old projects, experiment with new forms and create some new works.
Well, other than my residency in Salzamt, I would say the ARTWORKS SNF Artist Fellowship program and the Arbeiterkammer Kunstpreis. Their support played a key role in continuing my artistic practice. On the other hand, I am really happy that I had the chance to create a new artwork especially made for Frisiersalon, I was part of Linz FMR 2021 and co-exhibit with Amanda Burzić and the raumarbeiterinnen in Salzamt.
After my stay and my experience in Salzamt, I am very much motivated to continue with the idea of art residencies, but this time for a short-term period. So currently I am looking and applying for residencies mainly abroad, filling applications and waiting! Additionally, I am working on some new ideas for projects, but I am in the research stage so I do not have much to share :)