JENNIFER MILLS

Those familiar with Mills’ work will recognise her technical mastery of watercolour with which she intricately renders her subjects, and the oil pastel overlays which partially conceal these underlying images. The animals in question wear these smears and tattoos, and sometimes hide behind them. It is these markings which have evolved from abstract lines into specific images, revealing drawing within drawing. They still appear as spontaneous as scribbles, however more articulate. Self portraiture has played an increasing role in Mills’ practice.

Mills’ work has been included in recent group exhibitions including Contemporary Australian Drawings 1, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (2010), Magnetic Islands, RMIT Project Space / Spare Room, Melbourne, Australia (2010), Darwin’s bastards, Verge Gallery, University of Sydney, Australia (2009), All in an afternoon, Monash University Faculty Gallery, Melbourne (2007); Polar mark, RMIT Project Space / Spare Room, Melbourne (2007); Strange beauty, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne (2007); and Getting on Mother’s Nerves, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin, Ireland (2006). Her work is held in the collections of Artbank, Sydney, Australia and Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Australia.