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LIZ MILLER

Inspired by systems that contain examples of simultaneous order and chaos, my mixed media drawings and installations reference biology, natural disasters, and computer imagery.   Imagined interactions between disparate systems, and the unpredictable outcomes of such encounters, provide a point-of-departure for works that divulge equal parts fact and fiction. The systems that appear in my work are hybrids, borrowing freely from a wide range of existing patterns and departing from them at will.  Saccharine colors and intense repetition seduce the viewer, subscribing to an underlying logic that allows playfulness to lead to sinister conclusions. Beauty and whimsy are catalysts for events that are increasingly aggressive. The initial logic of inventive and seemingly coherent systems is called into question by their untimely demise as they explode, disintegrate, and morph into new forms. In this manner, I comment on both the inherent failures and possibilities that result as we struggle with a world that is increasingly complex and multi-layered.

EDUCATION 2005        MFA—Drawing & Painting, Department of Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 1999        BFA—Painting, With Honors, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS         2006         Ostentatious Onslaught, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins CO Impudent Instant Message, Gould Library, Carleton College, Northfield, MN         2005         Home-Grown Invasion, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN                 Systemic Attack, Franklin Art Works, Project Space, Minneapolis, MN Systemic Detour--MFA Thesis Exhibition, Katherine Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2004         Serendipitous Hybrid, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN The Failure of an Eloquent Defense, Christensen Center Gallery, Minneapolis, MN TWO/THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS 2006         Perform/Install, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2007         Latitude: LON/MSP/NYC, Fieldgate Gallery, London 2006         8x8x8: LON/MSP/NYC, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN 2005         Trickle Down, Firehouse Gallery, Burlington, VT 2004         Proliferate: Drawing in Space, Accumulating in Time, Foster Gallery, Eau Claire, WI Box Fresh, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN Untitled III, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN 1999         BFA Thesis Exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI AWARDS/HONORS 2007        Research Incentive Program Award, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN 2005        Faculty Research Grant, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN 2004/5    Josephine Rollins-Lutz Award, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN                West Bank Arts Quarter Project Grant, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN BIBLIOGRAPHY 2006          Review.  September 2006 New American Paintings: Juried-Exhibition-in-Print, No. 65 South Bend Tribune.  July 23, 2006 Minneapolis Star Tribune  Sunday, May 7, 2006 Art in America.  Feb. 2006 2004 www.mnartists.org.  June 2004 Minneapolis Star Tribune.  July 2, 2004 Pulse of the Twin Cities, June 2004 Pulse of the Twin Cities, September 2004 TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2005=present        Assistant Professor, Drawing/Foundations, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN