Charlie Milgrim: Crude Futures

Charlie Milgrim, “Crude Futures”, 2026, used motor oil on paper, 24″x24″x1″, photo Bri Cheng

Twenty-five years ago, in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, Charlie Milgrim searched for a way to confront the deeper forces fueling global conflict. She turned to the very substance that was a catalyst in those struggles: oil. With a bowling ball as her brush, she rolled long lines across thick paper with used motor oil, setting the “landscapes” in motion. Over the decades, the contaminants in the motor oil slowly seeped outwards, its unpredictable spread mirroring the drifting, uncontrollable nature of an oil spill. Time became an important collaborator in the piece, shaping its quiet but constant transformation.
Now, after more than two decades, the oil has left an indelible stain—much like the omnipresent residue of oil spills that continue to haunt the environment. Despite the rise of renewable energy over these same years, the politics surrounding oil remain largely unchanged. The work stands as a reflection of that persistence: a grim reminder that the world still grapples with the long shadow of oil dependency, its consequences rippling through our present day wars.

Bio:
Charlie Milgrim is a multimedia artist from New York City who moved to the Bay Area to attend the California College of the Arts and later received her MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. Since then, she has had solo shows at OK Harris Gallery in New York City; Haines Gallery and Gallery 16 in San Francisco; the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, CA; and the Oakland Museum. She is active in the Bay Area arts community and exhibits her work at Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland.

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