Wayne Miller

"My paintings are attempts to represent friendship, superstition, hope, ways of marking time, and the need for food, shelter and communication. The paintings are usually done in series and refer to specific people, places and events such as a death in the West Indies, one summer in a small city, a writer's Asian journal, a week in the life of a Chinese prostitute and an American face reflected in a mirror. Images from these experiences -- a footprint, a hat, a censored face, a solar eclipse, a few spoken words of one language or another, or the simple act of breathing provide subject matter for the paintings. Many of my paintings contain text, both as a pictorial and narrative image, much the same as in a Persian miniature, a Japanese ehon page or an American comic. Sometimes the text is an actual story, sometimes it is a collection of visual images, and sometimes it simply records shards of lives." -WM Wayne Miller's compositions initially appear quite humble, portraying single or few images, a mere ghost of the underlying tale. At closer inspection, there are, in fact, multiple actions taking place, some below the surface, others floating above. Once revealed, the complexity of the composition becomes central to the event and its narrative foundation. Of significant importance to Miller's narratives is his distinctive lexicon of imagery, uniquely introspective painting technique and appreciation for all associated culture, philosophy and social tension. He demonstrates an extraordinary ability to reveal the narrative while remaining unconstrained by the limits of movement and time. Never a series of repeating images, his process utilizes a collection of symbolic representations that portray the event itself, the passage of time and his own relationship to it. His use of iconic symbols, strong color and compositional detail yield the impression of weightlessness, timelessness and, therefore, hope. -Susan Danton, MWFA