Artist Mary Anne Papnick Miller discusses 'Free Water Project, Jack and Jill'

Mary Anne Papnick Miller, former chair and professor of the art department at the University of Montana in Missoula and current professor and chair of the art department at DePaul University in Chicago, described her diptych titled Free Water Project, Jack and Jill in a presentation recorded in the meeting transcript.

Miller said the work centers on water — its sources and risks globally — and is meant to invite viewers to form their own interpretations rather than present a single answer. "The title is a little bit of a clue to what the work is about, but then it's up to each of you ... to come up with an idea of your own," she said.

Miller described a multi-year, layered fabrication process. She said she begins with photographs and multiple layers of paper and then weathers some pieces outdoors: "I will dig a nest, for lack of a better word, a very shallow hole in the ground. And then I put sheets of paper into the ground ... I'll put on top of that paper whatever I happen to have accessible, coffee, juice, sodas. And then I'll let it sit outside for anywhere from 3 or 4 days to weeks." She also described using powdered charcoal and working on the surface from the back forward in stages.

The artist said parts of this work began in Seattle, Washington, and incorporate photographs from local sites. One photographic layer is of the locks that move water from Puget Sound through Lake Washington, a place she visited often; she also included an image of a fish she photographed at the Seattle Aquarium. Miller linked those images to the piece's literary reference: "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water," she said, noting that the characters and other motifs are intentionally ambiguous and subject to individual perception.

Miller pointed to small, found objects and thrift-store purchases embedded in the composition as deliberate, evocative elements. She noted a wooden dancing Santa bought for 25 cents and a line drawing that resembles a toy Statue of Liberty among the layers. She said the combination of images and objects, plus references to politics around the time she completed the work in 2005, offer viewers "little clues and bits and pieces" to form meaning.

She invited viewers to revisit the work over time, saying perception changes as life experiences change: "Art has a way of changing with us," Miller said. The transcript records the full presentation but does not specify where or when the piece is exhibited next.