Liz Haley, born in 1972 the youngest of six children, was raised with community and escape as equally strong and polar influences. Haley is an artist, filmmaker, musician and curator whose work has been widely exhibited, including at the Anthology Film Archive, New York, the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle.
In 2005 she co-founded Valentines, an art, music and performance space in Old Town Portland, Oregon.
Currently, she lives on the Oregon coast.
"... A collage project titled Postcards from the Arctic is a fantastically weird display of genius which uses backdrop images from the arctic to create scenes so outrageous and clever you can't help but feel giddy. Same Sphere: Never Meeting is the latest of Haley's work and one of her most thought provoking. Addressing the issue of technology and media, Haley has created landscape images infused with odd hunks of metal and built technology.
Of course, a million questions can be conjured by reflecting on the juxtaposition of the images but they could not be more relevant in today's world. How does technology influence nature and our own relationships? Is technology distracting us from the beauty right in front of our eyes?
In a town saturated with artists it's often hard to pinpoint the ones to keep an eye on. Haley is one to follow—her stylistic eye is both hip and beautiful and the depth of intimacy between her thoughts and emotions are stamped all over her work. Same Sphere: Never Meeting is a quality set of work from an artist whose next move we could never predict." -Roger Wightman (Vanguard, 5/21/10)
"...Haley, for example, has achieved critical favorite status in Portland the past few years as a curator, performance artist and photographer.
Her photographs usually have a grainy, video texture, as if seen through a window dotted by condensation. The works in this show have a stubbly, perspiring look, too. The centerpiece is a multi-panel piece, "Herds," featuring a dozen photographs depicting numerous kinds of hordes: deer, elephant, zebras, people. The photos are a whirling span, approximating the reeling arc of a Renaissance frieze. The images of hordes of herds has something to do with pack mentality. But their deeper meaning is as clear as wet windows; this is keen obtuseness." -D.K. Row (The Oregonian, 1/15/09)
Her photographs usually have a grainy, video texture, as if seen through a window dotted by condensation. The works in this show have a stubbly, perspiring look, too. The centerpiece is a multi-panel piece, "Herds," featuring a dozen photographs depicting numerous kinds of hordes: deer, elephant, zebras, people. The photos are a whirling span, approximating the reeling arc of a Renaissance frieze. The images of hordes of herds has something to do with pack mentality. But their deeper meaning is as clear as wet windows; this is keen obtuseness." -D.K. Row (The Oregonian, 1/15/09)
"Local artist Liz Haley continues to impress. With a steady but quiet stream of fascinating visual art projects popping up over the past few years, Haley's profile will undoubtedly rise with her edgy performance, Polygraph. Every day of the festival, the artist will be hooked up to a lie detector in the lobby of the Gerding, where she will take whatever questions you have to throw at her. This piece follows an artistic lineage that includes performances by Yoko Ono and Marina Abramovic, but I've never seen somebody make the content of their memories and thoughts so available, while forgoing any overtures at creating intimacy in any traditional sense. But I suspect the most interesting dynamic here won't be the artist's forced honesty, but instead, the tone of the queries put to her. Because if we've learned nothing from the Milgram and Stanford Prison Experiments, it's that when people are granted power—even in artificial settings—it doesn't take them long to abuse it." -Chas Bowie (Portland Mercury, 9/6/07)
