A new exhibition by Mike Miller opens Friday, Oct. 27, in the Holleran Gallery from 5-7 p.m. at the Yocum Institute for Arts Education. His show is Untamed Catches from a Particular River.
Artist statement: This show is an amalgam. On the one hand, there is my own personal work – assemblages and collages made with found objects, photographs, and paper. On the other hand, there are the found objects and anonymous creations I have acquired over the decades in dusty antique shops, country auctions, and flea markets. These abandoned pieces of passion, mystery, absurdity, and untamed intent are worthy of any art viewer’s consideration, and I present them here with pride, knowing how they have inspired my very own work.
Mike Miller is a Reading, Pennsylvania-based artist known for his found photographs and paper collages. Through his primary occupation as an antique picker, he found inspiration in the left behind objects, art, and documents from the endless parade of (mostly) unknown lives lived in the United States of the 20th century. His series of found photo collages in the late 2000s was widely recognized as the rebirth of the silhouette as a primal, powerful human symbol that is continually employed by graphic designers everywhere to this day.
Born in 1970, his very first artwork was a pencil drawing of a ghost at the age of 2. He studied documentary filmmaking at Temple University and graduated magna cum laude in 1992. His work is significantly influenced by the psychology of film editing and the graphic style of the do-it-yourself ethos of the punk rock movement of the 1970s and 80s. Using primarily found materials, Miller’s work often refers to anonymity, uncertainty, alienation from modern mass culture, and the eternal mysteries of the life cycle. His work is represented by John Derian in New York City and Yard Dog Gallery in Austin, Texas.
More information about the exhibition can be found here.
The Yocum Institute for Arts Education is located at 3000 Penn Ave., West Lawn, PA 19609. Our mission is to connect and enrich our community through arts education, creative performance, and innovative programs. The Yocum Institute for Arts Education is a 501 (c)(3) organization.
