Cristin Millett

Cristin Millett

  • Professor of Art
STIFF
www.cristin-millett.com

Exploding traditional disciplinary boundaries, Cristin Millett’s investigations of medicine and its history are integral to her process. Her research stems from her childhood growing up in a medical household where discussions, most often at the dinner table, focused on the human body: its diseases, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments. In her family of scientists, those conversations continue to this day, and the profound effect that exposure has on her art continues. Although her interest in the body and body politics originated in her childhood, she began to study gynecology as a gender-specific metaphor during graduate school. She has examined collections of instruments, anatomical models, historical texts, and anatomy theaters throughout Europe and the United States. Whereas most scholars respond to their research through writing, Millett, as a visual artist, expresses the results of her critical analysis in works of art. She reinvents established methods of sculpture by incorporating new advances in digital technology, including CNC machining, 3D printing, and robotics, with the time-honored practices of stone carving and bronze casting. Her objects and installations prompt a contemporary cultural critique of societal issues surrounding reproduction and gender identity. Her work has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally in solo and group shows, including at the Villa Strozzi in Florence, the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. Millett began her professional studies in art at the North Carolina School of the Arts.  She received her BFA at Kent State University and her MFA from Arizona State University. Prior to her appointment at Penn State, she taught at the University of Maine for four years where she built the sculpture and foundry program. Since 2001, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in sculpture, foundry and installation at Penn State. Learn more about the artist at www.cristin-millett.com.

  • Publications

    SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
    2017 Linden, Grace. “Refracting the Clinical Gaze: Cristin Millett’s Obstetrical Sculptures.” Peripheral Vision: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Visual Arts, Issue No. 2, January 2017. http://www.peripheralvisionarts.org/journal/cristin-millett-grace-linden

    2016 Dustman, Emily and Edison Ilan. “Cristin Millett.”  E-Squared Magazine, Issue No. 1, Fall 2016: 53-58.

    2016 Marshall, Amy Milgrub. “Sculptor’s installations address attitudes about female body, sexuality.” Penn State News. Tues. 04 Oct. 2016. http://news.psu.edu/story/429436/2016/10/04/research/sculptors-installat...

    2010 Bloch, Jessica.  “Body and Soul: Artist Finds Inspiration in Anatomy for University of Maine Exhibit.”  Bangor Daily News [Bangor, ME] 13 Feb 2010.

    2009 Jones, Richard.  “Fitton Center Exhibit Explores Personal Identity.”  Journal News [Hamilton, Ohio] 18 Jan 2009, section C

    2008 Garoian, Charles and Yvonne Gaudelius.  Spectacle Pedagogy.  Albany: State University of New York, 2008.

    2007 Green, Roger. “Artists Stir Mental Stimulation, Exhibits Address Variety of Issues, Some Sensitive.” Ann Arbor News [Ann Arbor, MI] 6 

    2007 Piché, Thomas E., Jr., Charlotta Kotik, Rand Carter, and Margaret Mathews Berenson. Sculpture Space: The Book. Utica: Brodock Press, 2007.

    2006 Campello, Lenny. “Exhibit Review: Cristin Millett’s Teatro Anatomico – Sex, Art and the Body.” http://dcartnews.blogspot.com/2006/05/cristin-millett-at-arlington-arts.htm

    PUBLISHED WRITINGS
    Millett, Cristin. "The Uncanny (Un)Reality of Krista Hoefle." Uncanny Congruencies. Ed. Micaela A. Amato. 
    University Park: Penn State Univ, 2013. 56-61. Print.

     

  • Exhibitions

    Selected One and Two-Person Exhibitions 
    2018 "Coronal Plane," Schmucker Art Gallery, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA 
    2016 "Coronal Plane," Asymmetrick Arts, Rockland, ME 
    2016 "Cristin Millett," Harrisburg Area Community College, Lebanon, PA 
    2010 "Teatro Anatomico: Spectacle of the Anatomy Theater," Lord Hall Gallery, University of Maine, Orono, ME 
    2009 "Identities," Anne Ruder Bever Gallery, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH 
    2009 "Cristin Millett: Teatro Anatomico," Moreau Art Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 
    2007 "Teatro Anatomico," Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI 
    2006 "SOLOS 2006," Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA 
    2005 Medicine and the Body, International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL 
    2005 "Teatro Anatomico," Esther Klein Art Gallery, University City Science Center, Philadelphia , PA 
    2005 "Bodies in Crisis," ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA 
    2004 "Teatro Anatomico," Sculpture Space, Utica, NY 

    Selected Invitational Exhibitions 
    2017 "Silence is Death," The Vanderelli Room, Columbus, OH 
    2016 "Hard Copy," Sala Ex Marmi, Pietrasanta, Italy (catalog) 
    2016 "Process and Production," STEAM Works, Scranton, PA 
    2016 "AAP New Member Group Exhibition," The Mine Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
    2015 "Marble Codes," Giardino di Villa Strozzi , Florence, Italy (catalog) 
    2015 "Distilled in the Desert," Grant Street Gallery, Phoenix, AZ 
    2015 "Resisting Entropy," Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME 
    2014 "Cast Iron Traveler," Sabile Jewish Synagogue Contemporary Art and Heritage Site, Sabile, Latvia 
    2011 "Dislocation," Bruce Gallery, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA
    2009 "Americana," The Front Gallery, New Orleans, LA 
    2007 "Double X," Step Gallery, Tempe, AZ 
    2007 "Body Anxious," Cressman Center Gallery, Louisville, KY 
    2007 "Pitch, Yaw, and Roll," d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA

    Selected Juried Exhibitions
    2017 "She Inspires," The Untitled Space, New York, NY
    2017 "Visions 2017: Food for Thought," Sechrest Art Gallery, High Point University, High Point, NC
    2016 "Sacred and Profane," Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalog)
    2016 "Three Rivers Arts Festival’s Juried Visual Art Exhibition," Pittsburgh, PA
    2016 "Hole History," Asymmetrick Arts and Win Wilder Hal, Rockland, ME
    2016 "Figure Out," Tapp’s Arts Center, Columbia, SC
    2015 "Old Enough to Know Better," Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA (catalog)
    2015 "Gendered Perspectives: An Investigation of Contemporary Identities," Bradley University Galleries, Peoria, IL
    2015 "Sanctus," Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ (catalog)
    2015 "Art + Science," Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
    2013 "The FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art," Tipton Gallery, Johnson City, TN
    2011 "Rarely Seen: Hidden Collections of the Mütter Museum," The Mütter Museum, Philadelphia, PA
    2008 "Naked," Sixth Street Gallery, Vancouver, WA
    2007 "A Sense of Place 2007," Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
    2006 "Art Politic," Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts, Gaithersburg, MD
    2006 "Time’s Body of Evidence," Wright State University Art Galleries, Dayton, OH

  • Grants

    SELECTED GRANTS, HONORS AND AWARDS
    2016-18 Embedded Faculty Researcher, Arts and Design Research Incubator, Pennsylvania State University
    2017 University of Split, Croatia-Penn State Collaboration Development Fund Grant
    2017 General Education Integrative Studies Seed Grant, Pennsylvania State University
    2016 Emerging Women Artists 2016 Publication Fellowship, Peripheral Vision Arts
    2016 Artist Opportunity Grant, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pittsburgh, PA
    2016 Juror’s Choice Award, (Kim Larson, juror) Sacred and Profane, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
    2014 Individual Faculty Grant, Institute for the Arts & Humanities, Pennsylvania State University
    2008 Faculty Research Grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Pennsylvania State University
    2008 Individual Faculty Grant, Institute for the Arts & Humanities, Pennsylvania State University
    2007 Individual Creative Artists Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Harrisburg, PA
    2006 Faculty Research Grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Pennsylvania State University
    2006 Individual Faculty Grant, Institute for the Arts & Humanities, Pennsylvania State University 
            
    ARTIST RESIDENCIES
    2016 Digital Stone Project, Garfagnana Innovazione, Gramolazzo, Italy
    2015 Digital Stone Project, Garfagnana Innovazione, Gramolazzo, Italy
    2004 Sculpture Space Residency Program, Utica, NY
    2001 Djerassi Artist Residency Program, Bear Gulch, CA

    COLLECTIONS
    The Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

  • Presentations & Workshops

    SELECTED LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
    2017 International Congress on Wax Modelling, London, England
    2017 Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Columbus, OH
    2017 Presidential Visiting Scholar, Clarion University, Clarion, PA
    2016 Harrisburg Area Community College, Lebanon, PA
    2016 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA
    2014 7th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Pedvale Open Air Museum, Latvia
    2010 The State of Sculpture Conference, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
    2010 University of Maine, Orono, ME
    2009 Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
    2008 Clarion University, Clarion, PA
    2007 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
    2007 University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
    2006 Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
    2006 Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts, Gaithersburg, MD
    2005 ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA
    2004 Tri State Sculptors 26th Annual Conference, Roots to Radicals: Tradition, Collaboration, and Innovation.
    2004 Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute of Pratt University, Utica, NY