Essay for Catalogue

Lezlie Milson was born in Wisconsin, U.S.A. in 1958 and has resided in Panama since 1987. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brown University, Rhode Island, U.S.A. (1980), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island, U.S.A. (1983). Before that, she studied in Wisconsin and received a Purchase Award for the University of Wisconsin’s Permanent Collection among other prizes. In the 1980’s, Milson lived in New York City for four years, where she designed clothing.

Milson has participated in many collective exhibitions since 1975, in the United States, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Her first solo show was in 1980 in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A., and since 1996 has had solo shows in the Galeria Arteconsulte (1996, 1997, 2000), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (1999), and the Galería Mateo Sariel (2000, 2002, 2004).

In the Bienales de Arte of Panama, Milson won a Mention of Honor (1994) and a Special Mention (1996). Milson formed part of the representation of Panama in the II Bienal del Istmo Centroamericano in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2000, and the VII Bienal de Cuenca in 2001. In 2001 she was invited to show at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.

In Milson’s work, boundaries disappear; painting, sculpture, and installation merge with a blending of colors, objects, textures, and techniques. Lezlie's work evokes a mystical and spiritual language with a unique ambience, sometimes hostile, and sometimes cozy.

Lezlie Milson’s work appears in private collections in Latin America, North America, and Europe.

Panamanian Artists in the VII Bienal de Cuenca - Catalogue of the Mateo Sariel Gallery for Art Miami 2004