Douglas Miller is a local artist of incredible talent. For the uninitiated few of this community who haven’t already gotten to know Miller’s work, please do yourself a favor and get to know it now. Miller currently has work on view in his solo exhibition “Bewilderinger” at The Green Building Gallery at 732 East Market Street now through September 14. Miller also has work in the group exhibition “Art Envoy” hosted by the Louisville Visual Art Association at the Louisville Water Tower at 3005 River Road now through October 7.
Miller is a master of balance in both literal and figurative terms. His strength lies in his compositions’ balance of weight distribution between subject matter and background. He defines, alters, and redefines the positive and negative spaces on the page with innocent and simple ease. Continuing with the balance theme, his work appeals to both left-brain and right-brain dominant viewers. Highly detailed depictions of recognizable subject matter appeal to literal-minded individuals drawn to illustrative-leaning work, yet his highly expressive mark-making captivates emotionally charged viewers as well. His heightened visual constructions engage sensitive viewers who are drawn to plays on proportions, the finished/unfinished qualities of the work speak to viewers who appreciate the artistic process, and his use of a wide variety of media (pencil, ink, acrylic, coffee, and mascara, just to name a few) connects lovers of traditional and nontraditional materials alike. In short, there is something for nearly everyone to appreciate in Miller’s work.
Douglas, your work strikes me as work a grown-up child would do after years of honing the physical skills needed to create exactly what a thoughtful kid would want to draw. Can you give a little background information about yourself and how your life or experiences growing up influenced or helped to develop your work today?
Yes, I am a grown-up child or a child that looks like an adult. Maybe I am an old baby. I’ve always been interested in art, especially drawing. From a young age I’ve been able to draw. This innate ability has been the driving force behind what I do. Likewise, encouragement by teachers and family gave me the self-esteem that is necessary for a shy kid. I approach art-making without pretensions, essentially relying more on intuition than anything else. Don’t get me wrong – it is a constant stumbling and bumbling process of continuous self-effacing and self-editing, all within a flood of anxiety.
You have been living in Louisville for approximately the past 10 years now. You just graduated from the University of Louisville in 2009 and have essentially been able to stay at home caring for your daughter and creating work for exhibitions and commissions. Do you realize how atypical that is for an aspiring artist to be able to move to a new community, finish school, and positively contribute to the family household in such a short period of time? Is that a vision you’ve held for you and your family for a long time and worked toward, or is it more or less something that you’ve just found yourself falling into naturally?
I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home dad/artiste/part-time ukulele strummer/maker. I am lucky enough to have an incredible wife who has a flexible job (she’s a psychologist) and this allows me to have the time needed to work on art. My studio is in my house so that also contributes to ease of access for late night or early morning work. In the past, I wandered around the country for a few years, settling in Florida, then Seattle, sometimes California, drawing secret little pictures along the way and leaving them on train tracks – romantic little life. So I’ve had plenty of years practicing not knowing what to do. I finally settled in Louisville and finished college and met a community of artists and musicians that are determined to create viable, dynamic, and important art. This gave me the momentum to get “serious” about being a professional artist.
Speaking of this community, this city recently lost a cultural icon, musician, artist, and poet – Jason Noble. You have prints of a piece titled “Alligator? for Jason Noble” that you are selling, with proceeds going to his family. You created the original piece in 2010 with the same title. Can you talk a little about the story behind this work and how people can acquire one of these pieces?
Jason is a close friend and a truly amazing person who died in August 2012 after a 3 year battle with a rare cancer. He was 40 years old. Jason and his wife Kristin had an affinity for alligators that was probably partly comical and most likely an inside joke between them. Jason’s sense of humor was a boundless supply of comic book references, sketches of disgruntled squirrels, existential Fraggles, and in-depth analyses of Notorious B.I.G. lyrics. I just wanted to do something for Kristin that might in a small way help with the financial burden that comes with an illness. I also like the idea of a little Jason-gator hanging in people’s homes. There are limited edition signed and numbered giclee prints available for $35 at www.douglasmillerart.com
Before your show at The Green Building Gallery, you’ve shown at the Patio Gallery, which is associated with the Jewish Community Center, and at The 930 Art Center and Quills Gallery, both associated by varying degrees with Sojourn Community Church. Would you consider yourself a particularly religious or spiritual person? Many of the subjects of your work seem to have a deeper, more universally informed sense of understanding to them that seem to reflect a feeling of something greater than an individual-centric view of the world.
Wow. Hard hitting exposé questions! I would show artwork in a cave if someone asked me to. I am not a religious or spiritual person, but I of course understand how that is necessary and important in some people’s lives. I am just too much in awe of the natural world and the machinations of an unfathomable universe to ever really need the concept of a supernatural creator. The slow, decisive evolutionary process that led to a modern ladybug’s shell opening to reveal a functional wing is far more powerful, and in a sense more spiritual, than theology. For me, the concept of a divine presence is an answer to an unanswerable “why?” In the same way, my drawings, often left seemingly unfinished or incomplete, deal with those questions. For me, there is no perfection or certainty. We are provisional and in the state of development. There is no definitive reason or resolution to our meager, diminutive lives. The space between nothingness will always seem significant. I revel in the ambiguity.
Seeing you at a reception for your own work, you often seem to sit back and just observe others interacting with your work. What is the best thing that you have heard someone say about your work? Or what is the biggest thing that you hope viewers are able take away from your work when you, an artist statement, or gallery attendant aren’t there to talk to the viewer?
I’ve always been very interested in others’ reaction and reception to my work. I want folks to enjoy what they see, although the word “enjoyment” should be broadly defined as a spectrum ranging from being challenged and frustrated to numb.You should always leave a gallery with more questions than answers. Someone once told me at a show that they were laughing the whole time. I think that’s the best compliment. Philosophies are easy; comedy is hard. Nietzsche said that. Or something like that.
Any other parting thoughts you’d like to share?
Thank you for being interested in what I do and say. Although I don’t always do what I say, I do try to say and do what I do. Wait, don’t print that. That’s not what I meant to say.
-Daniel Pfalzgraf
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