Michelle Miller
“I don’t remember when I did not paint. I’ve always painted. I always will.”
Although Miller earned a BFA in visual arts with a triple major in painting, drawing and printmaking, as well as a BA in art history, her art education began long before her university years. Michelle’s mother was a Sunday painter who taught her daughter to trust and follow her creative instincts.
“That self-trust,” she says, “is likely the most important lesson I have ever learned in art-making as well as life. When you trust yourself, you know you can always figure it out. It’s all about problem-solving.”
“University was great for opening my eyes to possibilities. But the real education was in the experimentation and honing of my skills after I graduated.”
“”I am fascinated by the interplay of light and time, which, in my view, are inseparable. They define space—both temporally and geographically—while also shaping relationships with surrounding forms. My work often seeks to capture a depth akin to polyphonic music in visual form: no clear beginning or end, just layers upon layers. I build my pieces gradually, allowing them to evolve dramatically through extensive mark-making. This process imbues the work with a layered richness, as though it conceals secrets beneath its surface.”
“Painting must come from the heart for it to be rich,” she says. “However, it must also have critical thought. The visceral and cerebral need to work in tandem to find balance.”
Michelle works from her studio at home in Victoria BC Canada. When not in the studio, she is traveling to Europe to explore and teach art excursions, reading lots of books, or simply enjoying time with friends and family.
Miller has exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Her works are part of private collections throughout the world.