{"id":101605,"date":"2026-02-06T13:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=101605"},"modified":"2026-02-17T06:28:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:28:34","slug":"margaret-abramshe-finds-permission-in-the-work-of-eva-hesse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/margaret-abramshe-finds-permission-in-the-work-of-eva-hesse\/","title":{"rendered":"Margaret Abramshe Finds Permission in the Work of Eva Hesse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Margaret Abramshe in her St. George studio.<\/p><\/div>\n

Margaret Abramshe<\/a> recently attended an artist talk at the St. George Art Museum where Stephanie Leitch discussed her installation Spell Field Two<\/em>, presented as part of the exhibition Heaven and Earth: Attached by One Pillar<\/em><\/a>. The work repurposes commercially sourced materials, transforming them through careful craftsmanship into something both visually captivating and enigmatic. As Leitch spoke about her process and the conceptual layers embedded in the piece, she acknowledged Eva Hesse<\/span><\/span> as a formative influence\u2014an acknowledgment that immediately resonated with Abramshe.<\/h4>\n

Abramshe\u2019s relationship to Hesse stretches back decades. Her first encounter came in 1977, as she began her BFA program at the University of Colorado and read Lucy Lippard\u2019s influential book on the artist. Lippard\u2019s opening sentence left a lasting impression:<\/h4>\n

\u201cBetween the fall of 1965 and her death at thirty-four in May 1970, Eva Hesse made some 70 sculptures and many more drawings which have assured her place as a major artist. This is what she wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concise yet powerful summary of Hesse\u2019s prolific and determined career served as a catalyst for my own creative ambitions,\u201d Abramshe says. \u201cShe was a woman in the world of art dominated by men.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Central to Hesse\u2019s influence was her insistence on process. Rather than working with traditional materials, she chose latex, fiberglass, resin, rope, and wire\u2014materials selected not for how long they would last, but for their natural instability and unique reactions. These choices foregrounded uncertainty and change, allowing the materials themselves to participate in the work and emphasizing the unpredictable nature of artmaking.<\/h4>\n

Hesse also embraced chance and hands-on engagement during creation. By physically interacting with her materials, she made the act of making\u2014and the transformation of materials themselves\u2014central to meaning. That approach left a lasting imprint on Abramshe\u2019s own practice.<\/h4>\n