Jen Mills's Profile

As an artist, my interests encompass absence, evidence, time, and the small moments of daily life. In my current body of work, I create objects that imply action, whether it be by creating humorous objects for questionable protection, a site for healing, or installations that involve the viewer as both participant and witness. Our bodies remember everything.

This tendency to simplify and distill is embodied in the landscape of my childhood. Colorado is a land of opposites where the Great Plains abruptly meet the Rocky Mountains: when the snow falls, it hides what is underneath and makes all things equal, softer, and mysterious. This quiet sensibility is echoed in my work. The recurring motion leaves a trace in the landscape, like Richard Long's line in the field, where the action is not witnessed, the residue is seen and remembered, and the body is felt, but is absent.

My goal as an artist is to achieve a balance between the known and the unknown. My artwork is both the site and evidence of past actions. The materials I use have meaning, and are chosen for their associations to use, to the body, healing, and memory. The objects, installations and video I create provide clues to the story, but not enough to provide the answer.

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