Liz Chilsen
(American, b. 1957; resides in Forest Park, IL)
Liz Chilsen is an artist and educator who works with photography, film and video, and artist books. In her View from My Family Home series, she examines the migration of three generations of her family from rural to urban locales, reflecting a larger cultural shift in American life as family farms become more and more obsolete. The images are taken from inside, peering out the windows of homes belonging to her parents, grandparents, and siblings. The pictures not only show a range in landscape--from sprawling countryside to dense metropolis--but also portray slight details of the interiors and hint to the private lives of the residents. Chilsen’s images poetically narrate her family history, while more broadly speaking to the ways geography can shape and define identity.
Liz Chilsen has received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council, residencies from the Ragdale Foundation, an Educational Media Award, and the Intercom award at the Chicago International Film Festival. She completed her Bachelors of Science in Art from the University of Wisconsin and her MFA from Columbia College Chicago. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension in Madison, WI, Dominican University in River Forest, IL, and Columbia College Chicago, IL.
