MELANIE MILLER
CLOSE STILL

24TH JUNE UNTIL 9TH JULY












EXHIBITION ARCHIVE:

My work deals very much with what is familiar to me, the flowers that the birds and insects are indigenous and that is important. I am not interested in exotic beauty; I prefer the nocturnal habits of moths. I was initially interested in painting discarded objects, detritus, quotidian everyday objects that are not considered worthy of a second glance yet alone a considered scrutiny, that has evolved to include objects like flowers and insects that have an obvious beauty but are still very specific objects. I work in oils on gesso panels, the process is quite laborious but I like the complexity of the surface that I get with the build up of the oil paint.

“The paintings seek to explore the inner life of familiar objects, presented out of their explanatory contexts, emphasized by their separateness in the space allocated them. The secret dialogues exist between them, the alertness to the simplicity of ordinary things which points to a higher more hidden state of being”

I have recently begun to acknowledge how important the context of where I paint is as important to me as what I paint they have become entwined. My studio is a wooden structure on Eel Pie Island, a small Island in the middle of the Thames accessible only by footbridge, It faces onto the river so the view from the window changes throughout the day as the tide comes and goes. It is also next to the small Nature reserve area on the island so the Ivy and some of the other plants I paint are literally out the door. I like to think the relatives of the moths and birds I paint inhabit the darker areas of the woods. I don’t consider my self to be a painter of nature or wildlife, the context in which I paint is not naturalistic. I am very conscious of the aesthetics and personal associations of each object and choose them very specifically.