Stop by the James. S. Murray Gallery  to view an installation by artist Jeff Miller called “The Worker Line.”  It’s only open through the end of this week, July 28.

This is one of few installations over the years in the gallery space, and is designed to envelop the viewer into an environment. About this piece, Miller says, “The struggle of ambition against the realities of faceless labor has been a driving force in my art. This body of work draws from labor-based jobs that exist within a hog slaughtering plant located in my hometown. ‘The Worker Line’ consists of a single, life-size woodcut block that provides a layered, printmaking-based installation project. The piece touches on the consequences of giving into failure and lack of identity within factory settings. The juxtaposition of these topics combined with a mixed-media approach provides an alternative method with which to approach issues concerning working class struggle.”

Miller, from Beardstown, studied with the LLCC art department before earning a bachelor’s degree at Western Illinois University, where he officially fell for printmaking. He is currently pursuing a master of fine arts degree at Iowa State University where his love for printmaking has morphed and mutated in the light of new media and installation. His artwork uses a mixed mixed-media approach to printmaking to develop installations that explore working class struggle.