 On display, paintings from snapshots of strangers by Mark Takamichi Miller. In previous work, Miller painted from snapshots he stole from Costco. He readily acknowledges the moral duplicitous of his experiments in art voyeurism, and now that Costco has caught on and changed its photo distribution procedure, he’s turned to happenstance: The resulting new series of paintings, called “Zion,” is based on a single roll of film Miller discovered during a camping trip to Utah’s Zion National Park.
Howard House,
604 Second Ave.,Seattle, WA
206-256-6399
Hours 10:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Through Sept 18.
 Mark Takamichi Miller presents his new series of paintings, "Zion." Like his "60 Minute Photo Project," this series utilizes found photography as its subject matter. However, where "60 Minute Photo Project" used photos purchased by the artist from a photo house, "Zion" is the product of a roll of film chanced upon by Miller while vacationing in Zion Canyon National Park, Utah. The seven paintings that compromise "Zion" use oil on unprimed canvas in a focused, layered process that leaves the paintings' subject in low relief. The execution of these singular, godforsaken figures proclaims a subtle effort by Miller to express the relationship between snapshots, memory and the current social position of portraiture. Pictured on the left, "Blue Hat", 2003, oil on canvas, image courtesy of Howard House.
 Historically, portrait paintings functioned as a chronicle of the moment, capturing what otherwise could not be retained by defective memory. Great portraiture gives something more, going under the skin and it illuminates beyond the subject's official status. Miller simultaneously reinvigorates and subverts the tradition of portraiture by utilizing the ubiquity of snapshots, in which inadvertent revelations of personality and relationships are often captured in the ether of the moment. He references these entirely common moments while at the same time obscuring their specifics in thick, painterly layers of oil paint. This obscurity points to the faults of memory despite our vain attempts to preserve it. Pictured on the right, "Back Pack", 2003, oil on canvas, image courtesy of Howard House.
 [An editorial note: I have known Mark Miller since we were graduate students together at the University of Iowa. In the almost twenty years, I have been looking at his work the one unifying theme seems to be a reliance on the use of chance as a window into the natural world. This serendipity plays into his process of art making. He experiments with paints at a paint factory, his drawing techniques use a rotating picture plane and his need for constant motion and stasis all play into his fertile creative mind.] Pictured on the left, "Hand on Hip", 2003, oil on canvas, image courtesy of Howard House.
 Mark Takamichi Miller lives and works in Seattle. In 2001 he was the recipient of the prestigious Neddy Artist Fellowship Award given by the Behnke Foundation. He has won a fellowship at the MacDowell Colony, recieved a GAP Grant from Artist Trust, exhibited internationally, and has taught at: The Universities of Iowa, Oregon, Washington and Cornish College of the Arts. His work was recently included in the Tacoma Art Museum's permanent collection. Miller received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1991. Pictured on the right, "Mother and Son", 2003, oil on canvas, image courtesy of Howard House.
Read Regina Hackett's Review in the PI
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