Darkness – Michael Paul Miller

In the apocalyptic aftermath of the fire that destroyed Lahaina – a chilling point of conversation with just about everyone I’ve seen in the last few days – I could only think of darkness.

The power of art, the portrayal of the fears you’re conjuring, is at its most tangible when the images you’re absorbing match the blackness obscuring your light. Michael Paul Miller’s figurative, fabulist art gives solace to me, and produces a cleansing of sorts, for those reasons.

“His work explores the sublimity of existence through a post-apocalyptic environment emblematic of death, disaster, and desolation, without abandoning subtle indications of hope and beauty,” says The Artist Trust.  

Since his first solo show in 2003, Miller’s work has been exhibited in New York City, Seattle, the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Oregon’s Coos Art Museum, and other notable locations throughout the U.S. He is based in Port Angeles, Washington, where he is on the faculty of Peninsula College.

I have followed Michael Paul Miller for many years (see the original Art Junkie post on Miller in 2012) and one of his strengths is the effective juxtaposition of disaster and survival themes in his work.

Above, a favourite painting, The Migration, from a series exploring the human ability to persevere, adapt and survive, especially when the path is perilous and the end is bleak. That’s an excellent message these days.

Michael Paul Miller’s website, here.