Complex Personal Narratives in Figurative Art by Joseph A. Miller
Drawing inspiration from deeply personal creative sources, Joseph A. Miller works within the area of figurative art, offering psychologically charged, imaginative narratives that host human figures in dreamlike contexts. The artist often uses child figures in his paintings to pay tribute to childish belief in magic. Read on to see how Miller blends his childhood memories and contemporary techniques in his art.
About Joseph A. Miller
Miller combines painting and drawing with a teaching career. The artist has been an Associate Professor of Art at S.U.N.Y Buffalo State University since 1997. His works are in private and public collections around the world and have been featured at many international exhibitions, including those in China, Poland, Finland, and the Czech Republic.
Miller was supported by his family throughout his creative path, receiving an undergraduate degree at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and then progressing into the Master’s program in Fine Art and Drawing at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After trying his hand at the Security and Art Conservation department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Joseph A. Miller shifted his interest to a teaching career and joined S.U.N.Y Buffalo State University.
Joseph A. Miller’s Artistic Method
The roots of Joseph A. Miller’s artistic method go back to the wonders of childhood fascination. The artist recalls the impressive magic of Sendak’s children’s books that encouraged his imaginative force and laid the basis for creative exploration. He readily shares the vivid memories of childhood and youth as a period of wonder and excitement, combined with curiosity and fear. Miller explores this fusion of feelings in his art as a natural blend of a person coming of age and comprehending the world.
According to the artist, his main focus is on the human figure depicted in environments that create open-ended, psychologically complex narratives. His primary themes span power and vulnerability, enchantment and play, with the quality of light used instrumentally to create a sense of mystery and silence. The artist experiments with atmospheric perspective and selective focus, attained by means of light effects. Miller strives to create a near-presence experience by giving viewers a feeling that an event is about to happen or has just happened. Each character is depicted as fully absorbed within themselves, thus possessing elevated significance and waiting for the viewer to unfold their private story.