Michael Miller
Selected Works
Biography
Born: 1959 Willowbunch, Saskatchewan
Education:
1982: Graduated with Honours from the Alberta College of Art, Calgary AB
Selected Exhibitions:
2008: Mayday Show, Group Exhibition, Works Gallery, Edmonton AB
2007: Harcourt House Members Exhibition, Harcourt House, Edmonton AB
2007: Mayday Show, Group Exhibition, Works Gallery, Edmonton AB
2006: May Week Show, Group Exhibition, Works Gallery, Edmonton AB
2005: Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Front Gallery, Edmonton AB
2005: Mayday Show, Group Exhibition, Works Gallery, Edmonton AB
2004: Trees, Group Exhibition, Front Gallery, Edmonton AB
2004: Mayday Show, Group Exhibition, Works Gallery, Edmonton AB
2003: Parkland to Boreal, Solo Exhibition, Front Gallery, Edmonton AB
1998: Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Opperthauser Gallery, Stony Plain AB
1997: Through the Artist’s Eyes, Group Show, Elk Island National Park Visitor's Center, Lamont, AB
1995-2002: Small Works Exhibitions, Group Shows, Margaret Brine Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1995: What’s New Alberta, Group Show, Margaret Brine Gallery, Edmonton AB
1994: Group Show, Vanderleelie Gallery, Edmonton AB
1984: Insulated: An Installation, Two Person Collaboration and Performance, Latitude 53 Gallery, Edmonton AB
1983: Solo Exhibition, Latitude 53 Members Gallery, Edmonton AB
1982: A.C.A. Grad Show, Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Calgary AB
1982: Miniature Works Exhibition, Rice Gallery, Edmonton AB
Collections
Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Numerous private collections in Canada
Artist Statement
A chaos of light, colour, pattern and line, this is the world we live in; and this is the starting point for my landscapes. From this disorder I break down the image into its essential elements and then reassemble them, slowly trickling in more chaos as the painting progresses until I feel I have struck a balance between the wild nature of landscape and an easier and more accessible image.
During the drawing process I bring an order to the composition by simplifying and editing the enormous amount of detail before me. This is when I decide what will be the important elements to each painting and what tools I will use to do this.
My goals change with each painting depending on what I feel is important to the image. Colour and light always play a very vital role in my work, but rhythm, pattern, positive and negative space as well as other compositional elements all can become dominant aspects to each individual work.
Although the paint appears to be fairly thin in the final piece, there are multiple layers to my work starting with a simple line drawing, followed by applying light washes, and then adding more opaque colours always trying to leave some evidence of the work that came before. This method doesn’t leave too much room for error, but tends to let a lot of warmth and light through the paint.