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, Miller’s grandmother, who was a seamstress in a couturier, taught Gary about fabrics, pattern cutting, hand sewing, and embroidery techniques, which he practised endlessly wanting to learn her craft.
Miller attended various art and design schools from the age 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, 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, Miller graduated with an MFA in Fine Art and painting from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, where he developed a new series of contemporary mixed media portraits. In each of these works, Miller combines his original life model photographic imagery, his lifelong passion for fabric and textiles along with his raw approach to painting.
Self-taught or art school?
Art school. At 16 I went to East Surrey School of Art and Design, where I studied painting and textiles. I was told to pick one focused path, so I chose fashion design, studying at Croydon College (my hometown) followed by a BFA Degree in Fashion Design and Textiles from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.
In 1995 I moved to NYC to start a career in the fashion industry as a designer, where I worked until 2013. Then I moved to San Francisco to teach fashion design at the Academy of Art University, where I completed my MFA in painting and drawing. Throughout my professional career, I continued to draw at life drawing classes in NYC and SF, where I experimented with various pens, inks, pastels, paints, and collage.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Anything by Morris Louis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Louis
How would you describe your style?
Contemporary mixed-media portraiture that explores exaggerated and dynamic compositions.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
Before Covid-19, I usually began a piece by photographing a model, where I used various height platforms, stairs, or chairs to achieve a sense of distortion or forced perspective. I have never been interested in replicating photo-realistic art, so I knew I always wanted to distort what we are familiar with. I had it pointed out to me that these images often look like selfies, so–during lockdown–I have connected with models and photographers on Instagram who have a similar distorted viewpoint and have gotten permission to use their images, as arranging my own photoshoots is not possible right now.
I get bored quickly and enjoy mixed-media techniques. I will try any combination of materials and techniques together to see the outcome. It is rare I only just paint. You can usually see various techniques in each piece, and I want you to see the process in each piece.
Is narrative important within your work?
My work’s narrative is a very slow exploration of the body. Aside from portraits, I seem to be slowly exploring various body parts like necks, hands, armpits, and elbows. There is an underlying associating with people’s fetishes with various body parts that had always been part of my work.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Mickalene Thomas’s Origin of the Universe at the Brooklyn Museum showed me that mixed media, colour, pattern, and scale were all interchangeable. There was a room between 2 galleries of collage process work where you could see the various collage studies – amazing and very inspiring.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/mickalene_thomas/
Matthew Barney’s Cremaster series at the Guggenheim was a combination of all artistic media, and I remember leaving and thinking that I finally understood how video art can be used in such a unique way. https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/matthew-barney-the-cremaster-cycle
Alberto Burri’s The Trauma of Painting, also at the Guggenheim, was a massive experiment in media, using clay, plastic, fire, and chemicals to create beautiful pieces that are controlled yet so fragile. https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/alberto-burri-the-trauma-of-painting
Unfinished–Thoughts Left Behind at The Met Breuer was an exhibition that made you question if a piece was complete or the perception of a piece of art ever being finished.
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/unfinished
Instagram has opened my eyes even wider, and I am currently into work by Agnes Grochulska, Ramona Nordal, Ryan Hewett, Loribelle Spirovski, Bisa Butler, Alice Neal, Joseph Lee, Pascal Marlin, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Justin Bower.
What or who inspires your art?
Like most artists, it is hard to put exactly into words where inspiration comes from; for me, it’s everywhere. But if I had to pick one thing, I would say shape is a big inspiration. When I see or create an angle during a shoot that really captures a new angle or foreshortening that works well with the model.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio has taken over the living room in the apartment. What was once a very nice modern dining room table is now covered in my supplies, and my easel is a large window for light and ventilation as is like to use spray paint.
Do you have any studio rituals?
I saw a documentary on Gerhard Richter years ago where he started work each day by 8 am. As a morning person, that stuck with me. So I make sure to be working by 8 am each day in some capacity.
What are you working on currently?
I work on multiple ideas and pieces at the same time. I have a small series of armpit paintings. During COVID19 I have not been able to photograph models, so I’ve been networking on Instagram and am working on a group of a model named Antonio @_municio. I also connected with a photographer on Instagram called @orlandovivasorlandovivas. I loved the portraits he did–the compositions are what intrigued me as well as the colour–so I am also working on a series of portraits using metallic foils and oil paint on board.
Where can we buy your art?
You can DM me on Instagram @garyandmiller or email me Garyandmiller@gmail.com Through my website www.garyandmiller.com. Select work will be available on Artsy from September 2020 onwards.
