Millar received a BFA in 1980 and an MFA from Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts in 1983.

In an interview with Ocula in 2016, she said that,The word that always sets my teeth on edge is ‘gesture.’ Gesture seems like something that comes gushing out from deep inside you.

[1]Millar has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in both New Zealand and Europe and found critical acclaim in the international press.

Selected Solo Exhibitions Her painterly style was described as "energetic and overwhelming",[6] and Andrea Hilgenstock calls her paintings "spectacular".

[12] This project is recreated in miniature in the 2014 pop-up book Swell, created in collaboration with paper engineer Phillip Fickling and writer Trish Gribben – this book in turn inspired full-scale pop-up style works for her solo exhibition The Model World and large sculptures for SCAPE and the Auckland Art Gallery.