GARY MILLER | DISTORTED PORTRAITS

GARY MILLER | DISTORTED PORTRAITS

Distorted Portraits is a series of colorful mixed-media works in which I explore a contemporary, exaggerated, and dynamic approach to portraiture. This approach is followed throughout all stages of my creative process.
Whether it be the photo sessions, the images are based on using regular and camera distorted images; the materials and techniques I use, or the formal elements
of color, texture, or composition that make up each piece. I work methodically by combining wet and dry mixed-media techniques in order to create an image that is part drawing, painting, and surface textile application.
This series is derived from multiple photo sessions with my models during which I often make use of height platforms in order to achieve a sense of distortion and forced perspective.
Since I am interested in triggering a reaction, the portraits try to express emotions we confront every day, like power, dominance, submission, arrogance, or condescending attitudes – I approach these photo sessions in a direct and confrontational manner with each model. Once I paint and construct the mixed media work, these attitudes are reflected and highlighted through my use of a dominant split- complementary color scheme.

I see potential in new as well as found or discarded material, and I collect a varied assortment of tapes, textiles, embroideries, and trims. In each painting, I combine various tapes, line-drawing media, acrylic, and oil painting techniques, as well as textiles and found objects in order to construct a portrait that conveys the emotion and character of my subject.

We do not all show our genuine emotions in public or a professional workplace, but in environments where we feel comfortable and safe. I create a setting where the models feel less guarded and relaxed, so I can capture their raw emotions and feelings. Ultimately, my goal is to show the spirit of the model’s true self and share that emotion through each painting.

GARY MILLER

Born and raised in London, Gary Miller was taught at a young age to repurpose and reuse materials to give them a second life.
As a child, Gary’s grandmother, a seamstress in a couturier, taught Gary about fabrics, pattern cutting, hand sewing, and embroidery techniques, which he practiced endlessly, wanting to learn her craft.
Gary attended various art and design schools between the ages of 16 – 23 and has since then continued to draw as much as possible. During these formative years, Gary would frequent the museums of London, in particular, the Tate Britain as it is now known, the National Portrait Gallery and the Saatchi Collection, where he was especially drawn to the artists who worked in unconventional materials, such as Damion Hirst, Anish Kapoor, and Gary Hume.

In 1995, Gary Miller earned a BFA degree in Fashion Design from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication and pursued a career in that industry. He continued to take self-guided life drawing classes, where he experimented with various pens, inks, pastels, paints, and collage, again making use of what was around him.

In 2019, Gary graduated in Fall 2019 with an MFA in Fine Art and painting from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, where he has developed a new series of contemporary mixed media portraits. In each of these works, Gary combines his original life model photographic imagery, his lifelong passion for fabric and textiles, along with his raw approach to painting.

Read the full article on Art Market Magazine Issue #52