About

(b. 1986, Chicago)

Elise Putnam uses satirical imagery, installations, and performances to question our understanding of ourselves, our relation to cultural images we identify with and those which we consider "other". Her images mock and mimic the narcissistic self-valorization of colonialism.

Putnam has an MFA from the University of Chicago; an MA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and a BA from The University of California, Berkeley. She served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa, was artist in residence at San Jose State University, has taught at Indiana University, The University of Mount Saint Vincent, The University of Chicago and The University of California, Berkeley and has worked with K-12 schools throughout the Bay Area, Chicago, New York and South Africa.

Putnam currently teaches at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She lives and works in southeast Michigan.