Feature Artist Zane A. Miller
Trained as a photographer, I have developed my eye for composition in the obsessive personal sense that all artists give to their creations. With photography, choices are present in the surroundings of everyday existence and the ways in which I can take advantage of the plethora of visual stimuli are limiting, at least within my experience.
The limitations influenced me to bend the rules in photography as I went from shooting “photo realistic” images of my surroundings to manipulating the environment with my camera to create abstractions. This is where I discovered a sense of creative freedom that traditional photography did not allow. Still, the limitations that exist in abstract photography pushed me toward painting. Abstraction in my paintings is anything I wish it to be. I am driven by what feels right, free from initial external factors that can determine the direction a piece travels.
As a painter I start with a clear mind and a white piece of Stonehenge paper. Painting is the release or vehicle through which I can truly express with absolute freedom from beginning to end. With photography, there is always the initial influence of the environment.
I am creating work that is devoid of obvious subject matter and focuses directly in creating a personal sense of compositional satisfaction. My work is graphic and frenetic yet controlled, fueled by a constant desire to experiment with playful purpose in order to find my pathway toward compositional destinations. My work gets its best energy when I am able to let myself go to a place where the birth of the image just flows from my consciousness. Some call it “the zone”.
These pieces are created with acrylics, pastels (soft and hard), graphite, charcoal, and anything else that allows me to manipulate each piece to its final composition. The line quality I have developed creates the contours of organic negative spaces that in turn create illusions of depth and dimension, and act as windows to other layers of the work. The lines become important compositions in their own right and are just as interesting as the spaces they create.
Interpretation of my work is at the mercy of the eyes upon it. I do not explain it. I strive to allow these compositions to be open to interpretation, and resonate with the viewer. Sometimes this allows insight to arise where once there may have been opacity or confusion. I’m pleased with that sort of discovery but I’m not really concerned with influencing a specific visual journey. I enjoy the open-ended quality it has. It is simply an addition to the freedom of my creations.
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Facebook: Zane A. Miller - Grasping Photons
Image Title: Painting #28