I’m fascinated with unconventional beauty and art that diverges from what is expected. Through painting, I can transcend the limitations of a photograph. I ‘paint’ with photographic patterns as I would a color of paint on my palette. By merging photography and painting, I can blur the boundary between what is real and abstract.
About Mila
Mila Rossi is a mixed-media artist based in Colorado whose work explores the intersection of abstraction and nature through a contemporary lens. She holds degrees from Colby College, Spéos School of Photography and Sorbonne IV, and earned her master’s degree from Georgia State University. She also holds a graduate certificate from Duke University, completed intensive programs at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and was selected for an artist residency in France.
She has lived in France, Luxembourg, England, Tokyo and the United States, experiences that continue to inform her visual language and perspective.
Her paintings have been selected for juried exhibitions in Colorado, New York and France, and are held in private collections throughout the United States.
Artist Statement
My process begins outside, where I photograph textures in nature—on lichen, moss, fungi and leaves. Details that might otherwise go unnoticed can look entirely different up-close. This is the starting point of each composition, where the familiar turns surreal and open to reinterpretation through paint.
In the studio, I transfer photographic fragments onto canvas using gel medium, creating a reverse print. From there, the work progresses towards abstraction through layers of acrylic and oil paint amplifying textures and colors. As the painting develops, moss can resemble an aerial landscape and lichen an underwater world. I’m drawn to these moments when observation gives way to imagination.
Nature is my primary source of inspiration, but travel and lived experience deeply shape how my work continues to evolve. Abstraction allows me to process the world intuitively—to slow down, reflect and transform visual experience into something emotional, layered and alive. Through my work, I hope to invite viewers to look closer and discover their own connection to the natural world.
Testimonial:
Through dynamic layering, moments of subtlety, use of poignant color, Mila’s work plays with your sense of touch and three-dimensional space....a renewed relationship and attention to the earth.
Lauren Mayer, Associate Professor of Art & Gallery Director, Colorado Mountain College,
Aspen, Colorado
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About Mila Rossi
Mila Rossi is a mixed-media artist based in Colorado whose work explores the intersection of abstraction and nature. She holds degrees from Colby College, Spéos School of Photography and the Sorbonne in Paris, France and earned her Master’s from Georgia State University.
Education
Georgia State University, Master of Arts, Atlanta, GA
Duke University, Nonprofit Management, Durham, NC
Colby College, Bachelor of Arts, Waterville, ME
Sorbonne Paris IV, Paris, France
Spéos School of Photography, Paris, France
Groton School, Groton, MA
TASIS England, Surrey, England
International School of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, Japan
Exhibitions
2026
Art that Matters to the Planet: Beyond Beauty, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY
Valley Visual Art Show, R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
2025
Group Exhibit, Mini Masterpieces, GoGo Arts, Newcastle, CO
Group Exhibit, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Solo Exhibit, River Valley Ranch, Carbondale, CO
Group Exhibit, FUNGI, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY
Solo Exhibit, Reverie: Works on Paper, SeeSaw Gallery x Artsy, Englewood, CO
Valley Visual Art Show, R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
2024
Present Company, SeeSaw Gallery, Englewood, CO
Clay & Moonlight Fundraiser, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, CO
Artist Residency, Maussane, France
Solo Exhibit, Carbondale Library, Carbondale, CO
Valley Visual Art Show, R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
SAW Studio Open House, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Interdependence, SeeSaw Gallery, Englewood, CO
Duo Exhibit with Kazu Nakahara, FirstBank, Carbondale, CO
2023
SAW Studio Open House, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Interdependence, SeeSaw Gallery, Englewood, CO
Redstone Art Show, Redstone, CO
10 x 10 Name Unseen, Silent Auction, Art Base, Basalt, CO
Duo Exhibit with Leah Aegerter, Terrene, Colorado Mountain College, Aspen, CO
SAW Group Show, Carbondale Arts Gallery, Carbondale, CO
Valley Visual Art Show, R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
Small Matters, 437 Gallery, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO
2022
Finding Common Ground in an Uncommon World, The Collective Community Arts Center, Lafayette, CO
SAW Studio Open House, SAW, Carbondale, CO
10 x 10 Name Unseen, Silent Auction, Art Base, Basalt, CO
Solo Exhibit, Colorado: An Abstract Exploration of Our Natural World, Bonfire Coffee, Carbondale, CO
SAW Studio Open House, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Formally Speaking curated by Molly Peacock, Aspen Chapel Gallery, Aspen, CO
43rd Annual Valley Visual Art Show, R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
Pre-2021
SAW Studio Open House, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Small Wonders, Group Exhibit, Aspen Chapel Gallery, Aspen, CO
SAW First Friday Open Studio, SAW, Carbondale, CO
Group Makers’ Exhibit, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, CO
Curated, Assignment: CDC, David J. Sencer CDC Museum, Smithsonian Affiliate, Atlanta, GA
Curated, Student Exhibition, African Masks, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
Solo Exhibit, Colby College, Waterville, ME
Group Exhibit, Spéos Gallery, Paris, France
Residencies & Awards
NG Creative Residency, Maussane, France, 2024
Scholarship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO, 2023
Studio Intensive with Letha Wilson, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, 2023
Studio Intensive with Leslie Shows, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, 2022
Teach For America, Americorps Grant
Professional
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
CDC Foundation, Atlanta, GA
CARE USA, Atlanta, GA
Wake Forest University, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
Teach for America, New Orleans, LA
Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, France
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Studio:
SAW (Studio For Arts + Works), 525 Buggy Circle, Carbondale, CO 81623, USA
Instagram:
@artbymilarossi
Phone:
+1 (404) 387-2272
Email: