Sarah Gee Miller
As a collagist and painter, Sarah Gee Miller’s work is largely concerned with clarity, equilibrium and the expressive possibilities of vibrant colour. The formality of hard-edged abstraction fascinates her, as it hides its energy and emotion behind imposed order and a minimal vocabulary. Her work can be described as “warm modernism” particular to the Pacific coast, where the saturated light, and encompassing wilderness and a persistent sense of newness and optimism – undimmed over the decades – has resulted in a more organic, nearly biomorphic approach.
As a collagist and painter, Sarah Gee Miller’s work is largely concerned with clarity, equilibrium and the expressive possibilities of vibrant colour. The formality of hard-edged abstraction fascinates her, as it hides its energy and emotion behind imposed order and a minimal vocabulary. Her work can be described as “warm modernism” particular to the Pacific coast, where the saturated light, and encompassing wilderness and a persistent sense of newness and optimism – undimmed over the decades – has resulted in a more organic, nearly biomorphic approach.
Of her small paintings in acrylic on Arches paper:
These paintings retain geometric forms while introducing lighter, more pattern-based imagery. The patterns are reminiscent of a domestic space, the quiet sphere of the home. These small works are loosely based on the concept of ukiyo-e, a Japanese art form which playfully reimagined the transitory nature of life into an urging to enjoy the pleasures of it without consequence. In my paintings, an egg-like form gives life to the abstracted possessions and preoccupations of our lives, but there is no alarmist message here, but rather a glimpse into the ephemeral and the joyous.
On her Weather Series:
THE WEATHERS SERIES is a series of paintings reflecting unexpected or mysterious weather patterns experienced by both our interior selves and the environment in which we live. Things feel jumbled and uncertain, beautiful at times. Shards of bright sunlight through clouds, orange-tipped rain at sunset, the slate blue of the ocean, are all reflected here.
As well, I’ve enjoyed learning about the oddly specific weather vernacular around the world and named each painting with a particularly winsome example. “Armogan” is 19th naval slang for fine or perfect weather. “Bengy” describes the feeling of impending rain. “Flench” is Old Scot for weather that tries to improve but never really does. “Moonbroch” is also Old Scot, the haze that floats around the moon, an ancient hint of coming storms.
My style is hard edged abstraction but with a softer, more organic feel. Rather than a polished look, my work shows brush-work and movement, and very often has the aftermath of another painting underneath, deliberately left to add a layer of history to the piece. Geometrical abstraction is reimagined in my work: it’s more emotional, reflective of experience, its formalities softened by texture.
