2020 BARBARA HAMMER GRANT FINALIST

eileen mueller

Eileen Mueller makes work that honors the skill-sharing networks of early dyke organizers by using independent modes of production such as hand processed 16mm film, performance, and photography to conjure the unseen and wholly unknowable Dyke Mysticism that binds queered histories through spacetime. She studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art and later received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been awarded residencies at the Wassaic Project, ACRE and the Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin. Eileen has shown at IM ERSTEN in Vienna, Austria; Higher Pictures and the Jungle Lounge in New York, NY; The Pitch Project in Milwaukee, WI; OSU Urban Arts Space in Columbus, OH; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Elmhurst Art Museum, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Iceberg Projects, Roots and Culture, and Johalla Projects in Chicago, IL. Her work is published in the show catalog Phantoms In the Dirt; The Great Refusal: Taking on New Queer Aesthetics; and MAKE #16 “Archive.” Eileen is one half of GURL DON’T BE DUMB which has curated shows and performances across the country, produced collaborative work, and published the show catalogue WEIRD DUDE ENERGY. A co-founder and former Associate Director of LATITUDE, Eileen worked to activate Chicago’s artist community through organizing workshops, lectures, and panel discussions within a publicly accessible studio space. She has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with the Early College Program, Marwen, and has spent several summers assistant teaching at the Ox-Bow School of Art. After teaching in the Visual Arts department at the Chicago High School for the Arts for six years she returned to school as a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Art and Art History where she teaches in the photography and film departments. You can learn more at her website.