A lecture will be given today by the visiting artist Liz Miller. The lecture will be held in room 105 in the Fine Arts building from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Miller is an award winning artist and an art professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato who will be sharing her process for creating art and what influences her work.
“My recent work is primarily large-scale installations using non-traditional materials, such as felt, building foam and flexible plastics. My works are site-specific, meaning that they engage with the architecture of the gallery or exhibition space. The façade of my work is bold and even seductive. However, underneath the seductive façade there is a more sinister side to the work,” Miller said.

Miller realized that students are not familiar with installations, and this gives her an ample amount to discuss and an opportunity to answer any questions they may have. Nicole Hoiland, a visiting assistant professor of art and art history described Miller: “She is an installation artist who works with brightly colored papers to make very dramatic, very large installations.”

The lecture is not only for art majors, but it is open to the public. “I always attempt to speak to a broad audience—this includes both artists and non-artists. I think that anyone will be able to relate to at least parts of what I am saying, and hopefully I will speak in such a way that even those without an art background will come away with a greater understanding of what I do. I try to be entertaining,” Miller said.
“[Miller] touches on biology natural disasters, mathematics, computer imagery and philosophy. In the purely aesthetic sense her work is incredibly beautiful. I think that this lecture would interest a lot of students and faculty on campus,” Hoiland said.

Art has been a part of Miller’s life since she was a child. She became more serious about art when she began attending the Rhode Island School of Design in 1996. “It was there that I met people who were excited about the same things I am and who pushed me to pursue this path,” Miller said.

Miller has been teaching drawing at Minnesota State University Mankato since 2005. She thought that she would never teach art, but she loves doing it. “I became interested in art because I was excited about the work of other artists and wanted to be part of the conversation they were having. I remember going to New York for the first time as an undergraduate student and being completely blown away by the experience. I also found that art was something that completely held my attention in a way that other things did not. I knew that I’d do something creative from the time I was a small child,” Miller said.

Miller sees each of her works as a new challenge, and she builds off of her past works. She is continually creating art, and once she finishes one piece, she begins the next. “I think this is partially because my work is temporary—it exists for the duration of a given exhibition and then disappears. The only record of the work exists in the form of photographs,” Miller said.

Miller is inspired by the world around her and the natural systems that are found on earth. She is intrigued by their complexities and the ways they are mapped. Systems that have influenced her work have included ecological, biological, meteorological and technological. “A question that guides my work is ‘What does it look like when systems fail?’” Miller said.

Hoiland’s favorite piece created by Miller is Resplendent Reconnaissance, 2008, Sioux City Art Center Installation. “I like the way the installation fills the space and hovers above the floor incorporating the viewer into the sculpture,” Hoiland said. To view examples of Miller’s work, visit www.lizmillerart.com.