In the summer of 2025, Olivia Rombak participated in a research and professional development fellowship through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As part of the program, she conducted interviews with a range of Great Lakes water professionals in the Milwaukee area, including researchers, surveyors, and outreach and policy specialists. Olivia also engaged with local residents to develop a comprehensive understanding of Great Lakes culture and the region’s current ecological conditions.
Based on this qualitative research, she created Threshold, a series of six artworks inspired by her personal experiences on Lake Michigan and the conversations she had during the fellowship. The pieces explore a narrative of increasing human interaction with the Great Lakes and the consequences that follow. Drawing from her earlier work, specifically a piece titled Threshold, produced for and exhibited at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC in April 2025, which depicted the erosion of Lake Michigan’s shores, Olivia continued the story with new works begun in May 2025 to complete the series.
The exhibition follows a chronological arc, beginning with a depiction of Lake Michigan in a pristine, untouched state and gradually progressing towards change and destruction due to human settlement and infrastructural changes in the region.
A few common themes emerged through the artworks. Firstly, every piece is a play on the portrait, whether explicitly so or subtly obscured. Olivia’s work is largely composed of human figures and anatomical studies, and Threshold adds a renewed spin to that. Furthermore, blue and green became central figures in the color palette—a stark shift from the fiery reds, oranges, and pinks that previously dominated Olivia’s portfolio.
She took a step back from her past watercolor work, using primarily acrylic for these pieces; however, Olivia approached acrylic in an untraditional way, applying techniques learned from watercolor. She experimented with various acrylic mediums to alter texture, introduced new materials such as spray paint and house paint, and diluted her pigments to create thin washes and layered effects reminiscent of watercolor. Finally, many of the pieces have a warm “glow,” a direct result of the neon pink underpaintings beneath the surfaces of her acrylic work.
Threshold marks Olivia’s debut art show, a love letter to Lake Michigan, where she lived for the first eighteen years of her life. The lake is a vital resource, deserving protection and restoration, and Olivia believes that meaningful engagement with it is essential to inspiring residents to become thoughtful stewards.