Nicole Miller (artist) facts for kids

Nicole Miller is an artist born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1982. She now lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Nicole Miller creates art using videos and special art setups called installations. She explores how moving images can change the way we see ourselves and our culture. Her videos often look at what it means to be African American. Her work helps tell powerful stories. It can even help bring back forgotten histories and identities.

Nicole Miller's Journey

Nicole Miller moved to Los Angeles in 2001. She studied art at the California Institute of the Arts. Later, she earned her master's degree from the USC Roski School of Fine Arts.

Exhibitions and Art Shows

In 2014, Nicole Miller had a solo art show. It was at the Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève in Geneva, Switzerland. This show was called Death of a School.

Her artwork, The Conductor, was shown in two famous places. It was at the High Line in New York City. It was also at LAXART in Los Angeles. Her art has also been featured at Kunst-Werke in Berlin, Germany.

Miller has also shown her art in big museum exhibitions. These include the Hammer Museum's Made in LA show. She was also part of The Bearden Project at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her work was also at the Dallas Biennale at the Dallas Contemporary art museum.

In 2014, Miller finished a special project. It was called "Believing is Seeing." She worked on this for 18 months with The Los Angeles County Museum of the Arts.

Art in Collections

Nicole Miller's artworks are part of important collections. You can find her pieces at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her art is also at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Awards and Recognition

Nicole Miller has received many awards for her art.

• In 2012, she won the Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award.
• In 2013, she received the Artadia Award. She also got the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant.
• In 2015, she was given the William H. Johnson Prize.
• In 2016, she won the Rome Prize.

Exploring Her Artworks

Nicole Miller's art often explores ideas about race. She looks at how racial history fits into today's world. Her pieces often show people talking about past events. Or they might show an event happening over a structure. Sometimes, her art reminds us of the past. All her works have strong connections to African American culture. They also explore ideas about "self" and how people fit into society.

The Conductor Artwork

One of Nicole Miller's most famous artworks is “The Conductor”. This video piece creates many different feelings.

The video is silent. It shows an African-American man wearing a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. He moves his arms as if he is leading an orchestra. But there is no music. The silence makes "The Conductor" special. It reminds some people of old silent movies. The man's movements can also make it seem like a type of old performance.

Miller has explained her thoughts about the piece. She said she was excited to show a person in charge, like a conductor. But this conductor is also a performer. He refuses to be seen as just one type of character. This idea means the artwork wants you to feel something. It also lets the conductor take back power over his own identity. He shows that a culture can define itself.