Ali Miller
Ali Miller
I have a need to direct the misen-scene of the spaces I inhabit. In painting, I am able to peer down upon my reality, and carefully orchestrate the placement of objects, the colors and embellishments of the scenes. I inject my ideal fantasy into the real, in turn, intertwining and sometimes confusing the two.
My work, once rooted in constructing spaces as hideouts, or escapes from reality, has evolved through my attempt to improve reality, to shape it to fit my dream version. As a result, I often construct physical sculptures to use as loose references for my visions of the ideal. These sculptures are born out of the real scraps of my life: fabric, lace, brightly colored string, tangled bits of broken accessories.
Surrounding my depictions of the real, tactile sculptures, I paint the relics of my fantasy: a fantasy informed by extravagant pop artists, feel-good romantic comedy moments, elaborate theatre costume, and the contrived scenes of music videos. My tendency to exaggerate reality, to think in extremes, manifests in saturated colors and theatrical portrayals of a fantastic world.
A penchant for control materializes in painstaking textures, patterns, miniature designs and fastidious detail, all executed with tiny paintbrushes. I find solace in the minutia of my work and tension when painting thick strokes with larger brushes. The satisfaction that comes with rendering figures to appear realistic is interrupted by my attempts at liberal technique and less formulaic moments in painting. Closure eludes me as I work to perfect the ideal forms, whilst my reality unravels about me in chaos that I attempt to contain with string. The stakes are high and the repercussions of letting the chaos spill about my painting uncontrolled are catastrophic.
The result of my process is a space more ornate and more beautiful than that which I inhabit: it is at once the stage for my life’s fantastical expectations and the contemplative space for understanding my disappointment with the real and its relation to the imagined.