Elizabeth Chiles is an American artist based in Austin, Texas making visual art that searches beyond the physical, to places of peace, contemplation, and connection. Exploring the intersections between an embodied human perception, the ever-shifting physical world, and the mysterious world beyond our sensory awareness, Chiles’ work pushes the boundaries of photography.
It was upon seeing the infinite in a blade of grass as a child that Chiles began her personal and artistic pursuits.
Born in Austin and raised in Houston, Texas, Elizabeth graduated with a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University and an M.F.A. in Photography from San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been widely exhibited, including solo exhibitions at Fotofest, Galveston Arts Center, Southwest School of Art, testsite, and grayDUCK Gallery, as well as group exhibitions at Foley Gallery, conduit gallery, and The Contemporary Austin. Her work is in the public collections of The City of Houston, The City of Austin, Dell Children’s Hospital, The LINE Hotel, Google, and University Women’s Hospital, among others. Elizabeth has taught over 30 courses in theory and photography at The University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, and Southwestern University. She served on the Board of Trustees and was co-chair of programming at the Austin Center for Photography from 2008–2015, and has served as a mentor to several young artists and a juror on a number of grants and awards panels. She is the recipient of City of Austin arts grants from 2014–2021.
EDUCATION
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE, MFA Photography, San Francisco, CA, 2005
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, BA Art History, New York, NY, 1997
TEACHING
ST. EDWARDS UNIVERSITY, Austin, TX, Lecturer, Photography, 2021-2023
HOUSTON CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY, Houston, TX, 2020 - 2022
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, Austin, TX, Lecturer, Art Theory, 2011 – 2015
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, Georgetown, TX, Assistant Professor of Photography, 2012 – 2015
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, San Marcos, TX, Lecturer, Art, Art History and Honors, 2009-2013
LESLEY UNIVERSITY, Art Institute of Boston, Low Residency MFA, Graduate Mentor, 2010
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
BREAD AND ROSES, Koslov Larsen Gallery, Houston, TX, fall 2024
TIME BEING, Fotofest, Houston, TX, spring 2024
THE WILD NEARBY, Galveston Art Center, spring 2024
TIME BEING, Grayduck Gallery, Austin, 2021
NESTS AND OTHER PLACES TO REST, The Line, Austin, 2020
ON WATER, Central Library, Austin, 2019
WEAVE, Architectural Digest Design Show, New York, NY, 2019
WEAVE, Grayduck Gallery, Austin, 2018
ON MY MIND, AGAIN, Southwest School of the Arts, San Antonio, TX, 2016 OVER TIME, Pump Projects, Austin, TX, 2016
ON MY MIND, AGAIN, Canopy, Austin, TX 2014
BOOK OF PRAISE, testsite, Austin, TX 2010
VISIBILITY, Spartan, Austin, TX 2009
TWO AND THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
LAND/E/SCAPE, Amy Casey, Elizabeth Chiles, Veronique La Parriere M, Foley Gallery, NYC, spring 2023
LUMENS & CURRENTS, Elizabeth Chiles and John Swanger, Grayduck Gallery, Austin, 2017
IN THE SPACE OF SUMMER (w/Karen Cleveland and Olivia Valentine), Whitespec, Atlanta, GA, 2016 BEAUTY IS EVERYWHERE OR WE’LL BREAK YOUR BONES, Installations and Experiences by Elizabeth Jean Chiles and Beverly Jane Bajema, Pleasure Palace, Austin, 2013
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Conduit Gallery 40th anniversary exhibition, Dallas, TX, 2024
Seven Deadly Sins, Art and Environmentalism, Museum of the Americas, Washington DC 2024
transmissions, with ecoartspace, Canopy, Austin, TX 2024
Solar Lunar, ARTSPACE, Wimberly, TX, 2024
Nature Nurture/Nurture Nature, Texas State University galleries, 2024
Inland/Outward, Foto Relevance, Houston, Spring 2023
Keeper of the Hearth, Houston Center for Photography, Fall 2020
INFOCUS v. 2, Phoenix Art Musuem, AZ, 2017
POST HUDSON, Frontispiece Hudson, Coxsackie, NY, 2016
UT AUSTIN FACULTY SHOW, Visual Arts Center, Austin, TX 2015, 2011
INFOCUS, Phoenix Art Musuem, AZ, 2014
MAIL ART, Franklin Street Works, Stamford, CT, 2014
ON THE ROAD, Aperture Foundation Benefit, New York, NY, 2014
MOVING/STILL curated by Kerry Inman, Houston Center for Photography & Fotofest, 2013
HER , Rolla Foundation, Bruzella, Switzerland, 2012
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY EXHIBITION, San Marcos, TX, 2010, 2012, 2013
THEN AND NOW Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI, 2012
NEW ART PHOTOGRAPHY, Chelsea Art Museum, curated by Vanessa Kramer, New York, NY, 2011 TEXAS BIENNIAL, Austin, TX, 2011
15 TO WATCH: NEW ART IN AUSTIN, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX, 2011
DECK THE WALLS, John Cleary Gallery, Houston, TX, 2010 and 2009
HOME, Root Division, San Francisco, CA, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY, curated by Charles Boone, 2004
Fragments of Contemporary Urban Life, Diego Rivera Gallery; San Francisco City Hall; Michaelis Gallery, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2002
PROJECTS WITH LAKES WERE RIVERS COLLECTIVE
STRANGE PILGRIMS, The Contemporary Austin, 2015
CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE AND THE ARCHIVE, Harry Ransom Center, Austin, TX, 2013
TEXAS BIENNIAL 2013, Blue Star Art Museum, San Antonio
Warhol Foundation Idea Fund Grant, 2012
DARK MATTER, Vanderbilt University Gallery, Nashville, TN, 2012
PANTA REI, Box 13, Houston, TX (in conjunction with Foto Fest), 2010
GRANTS AND AWARDS
City of Austin, Core Funding Grant, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Nominated for Best Artist in Austin, 2018, Austin Critics Table
Nominated for Best Solo Exhibition in Austin, 2016, Austin Critics Table
Finalist, Art Pace Residency, spring 2017, selected by Michelle Grabner
The Contemporary Austin, Collectors’ Circle print commission, 2015
Finalist, Art Pace Residency, fall 2014 selected by Mika Yoshitake, Assistant Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Fellowship, Hambidge, Creative Residency Program, summer 2014
Best photographers to Lakes Were Rivers, Austin Chronicle, 2011
Nominated for Best Museum Exhibition for Contemporary Photographic Practice and the Archive, Harry Ransom Center, Critics Table Awards, 2014
ABBREVIATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nature Nurture, San Marcos Daily Record, March 24, 2024
Brush with Nature, Austin Home, June 2024
Elizabeth Chiles, Time Being, featured portfolio, PhotoNews, Germany, June 2024
Elizabeth Chiles, Lumens, featured portfolio, Katalog Magazine, Spring 2022
Top 10 Post Pandemic Art Exhibitions in a World…, Sightlines Magazine, December 2021
Eternal Spring, Elizabeth Chiles at grayDUCK Gallery, Sightlines Magazine, September 2021
Field Guided, Wildflower Magazine, feature article by Lauren Moya Ford, March 1, 2020
Elizabeth Chiles’ On Water exhibition at Central Library, CBS Austin program We Are Austin, interview with Trevor Scott, July 15, 2019
Austin Art Talk Podcast, Elizabeth Chiles
Elizabeth Chiles: Weave, Melanie Jean, Austin Chronicle, May 4, 2018
Weaving light: In her newest photographic work, Elizabeth Chiles embraces serenity, Erin Keever, Arts + Culture, May 2018
Weaving light: In her newest photographic work, Elizabeth Chiles embraces serenity, Erin Keever, Sightlines Magazine, March 2018
Elizabeth Chiles and John Swanger: Lumens & Currents at Grayduck Gallery, Sam Anderson-Ramos, Austin Chronicle, January 6, 2017
Photography project uses cloud formations to examine time, Austin American Statesman, April 14, 2016 Elizabeth Chiles: Over Time at Pump Projects, The Austin Chronicle, April 1, 2016
7 things in 7 days, top things to do in Austin this week, Austin American Statesman, March 25, 2016 Strange Pilgrims exhibition to come to The Contemporary Austin, The Daily Texan, September 2015 Strange Pilgrims at The Contemporary Austin, Kate Green, Art Forum, November 2015
5 Can’t Miss Stops at EAST 2014, Austin Way Magazine, by Wes Eichenwald
The nature of the [b]EAST, Seth Orion Schwaiger, Arts & Culture, October 26, 2014
“MOVING/STILL: Recent Photographs by Texas Artists” Tries to Make Peace With Nature, Houston Press, September 24, 2013 by Altamese Osborne
Top 5 in Houston this week (Moving/Still at Fotofest & HCP), Glasstire, September 2013
Archives Inform Modern Photographers work at the Ransom Center, Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, The Austin American Statesman, July 14, 2013.
KUT, NPR in Austin interview with John Aielli, June 27, 2013
West Austin Studio Tour artist plays with light, nature and the cycles of life by Luke Quinton, The Austin American Statesman, April 25, 2013
In the Studio: Elizabeth Chiles by Andy Campbell, The Austin Chronicle, April 14, 2013
Dark Matter, Critics pick, Nashville Review, November, 2012
Pictures of E.A.S.T, Katie Geha, Glasstire, November, 2012
I Shutter to Think, Rising Stars in Austin, Austin Chronicle, Robert Faires, May 20, 2011
PBS television interview, Austin Museum of Art, March 2010
Catalogues
Keeper of the Hearth, picturing Roland Barthes unseen photograph, Schlit Publishing, spring 2020 Strange Pilgrims, Heather Pesanti, The Contemporary Austin, UT Press, 2015
Moving/Still, Fotofest and Houston Center for Photography, 2013
Texas Biennial 2013, Virginia Rutledge, Texas Biennial, Austin, 2013
Young Artist Program, The Contemporary Austin, 2013
HER, Rolla Foundation, Italy, 2012.
Texas Biennial 2011, Virginia Rutledge, Texas Biennial, Austin, 2011
The The Collector's Guide to New Art Photography Vol. 2, Amani Olu and Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts Foundation, New York, 2010
Home, Root Division, San Francisco
The History of Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco
New Art in Austin, Kate Bonansinga, Toby Kamps, and Andrea Mellard, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, 2011
Artist books
Weave, 2018, poems, available at grayDUCK Gallery, Austin
Electric Blue Flowers, 2016, writings and photographs, Farewell Books and Frontispiece Hudson The flower and the bloom, monograph of work made in Maine, summer 2011; available at Fotofest, Houston
Lakes Were Rivers: Number One, collaborative artist book
Book of Praise produced in conjunction with testsite exhibition; available at Domy Books, Houston Theatre, monograph of Theatre project, with essay by Toby Kamps, senior curator, Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Special edition portfolio, Gum Drops, produced at Cloverleaf Studios, Austin, TX
Special edition portfolio, Everyday Portals and Pleasures, produced at Cloverleaf Studios, Austin Special edition portfolio, Theatre, produced at Cloverleaf Studios, Austin
Published Writings, Readings & Performances
Root Branching, poetry/performance, May 5, 2018
Disparate Elements, poetry reading, Fields Magazine, Spring 2017
Cover art: American Short Fiction, fall 2013
Fields Magazine, featured artist, summer 2014
Endless Ocean, Endless Sky, Fuse Box Festival, ...might be good, issue 99 Interview with Jessica McDonald, I Love Texas Photo, September 2013
Public Talks and Lectures
2023 Phi Beta Kappa Society annual meeting
2022 Precision Camera, Keynote speaker
2018 Site Santa Fe, Museum trustees studio visit
2018 Blanton Museum of Art, Museum trustees studio visit
2018 Blanton Museum of Art, Gallery Talk with Veronica Roberts
2016 Grayduck Gallery, Austin, exhibition talk
2016 Houston Center for Photography, Studio visit and tour
2016 Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, Artist talk
2016 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, Artist talk
2015 The University of Texas at Austin, faculty exhibition, program lecture
2014 Canopy, conversation with Heather Pesanti, Senior Curator, The Contemporary Austin
2014 Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, Georgia, Artist talk
2014 The University of Texas at Austin, Quest Program, Artist talk
2013 The Harry Ransom Center, Contemporary Photographic Practice and the Archive, gallery talk 2013 Houston Center for Photography, exhibition walk through with curator
2013 Fotofest, exhibition walk through with curator Kerry Inman
2013 KUT/KUTX, Austin’s NPR station, Radio interview with John Aielli about HRC exhibition 2012 Texas Educators Association, presentation: Photographing the Everyday and Storytelling through Photography
2011 The Austin Museum of Art, Public Talk on Exhibition
2011 PBS interview at Austin Museum of Art, Interview for local PBS station
2011 The University of Texas at Austin, visiting artist lecture in The History of Photography
2011 The University of Texas at Austin, faculty exhibition, program lecture
2010 Texas State University, visiting artist lecture in Studio Practicum
2009 Texas State University, visiting artist lecture in Studio Practicum
2009 testsite, exhibition talk
Public Collections include
The City of Austin AIPP
The City of Houston Civic Art Collection
The Contemporary Austin
The Archer Hotel, New York and Austin
Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin
Dimensional Worldwide
Google
The Rolla Foundation, Switzerland
The Line Hotel, ATX, DC, LA
Sidley Austin LLP, New York
Private Collections include:
Janet & Wilson Allen, Austin
Julie Castellano, New York
Mike Chesser, Austin
Deborah Green, Austin & New York
Stacy & Joel Hock, Austin
Cathy Kaplan, New York
Laurence Miller, Austin
Danielle Nieciag & Brian Sharples, Austin
Lora Reynolds, Austin
Susanna Singer, New York
Chris Tomlinson and Shalini Ramanathan, Austin
Tom and Olivia Walton, Arkansas