Calamity

A Solo Exhibition of Works by Justin Henry Miller

Like many artists, my experiences as a youth and adolescent have had a profound influence on the imagery that permeates my artwork. Growing up on a horse farm, I witnessed first hand the hyper manipulation of nature and natural process for human use. Livestock are routinely subjected to selective breeding, artificial insemination, ultrasound scanning and inoculations solely for commercial purposes. What initially begins as harmless bio-mimicry - creating a better future through chemistry and technology - devolves into a dystopia, rife with the cast-offs of unintended consequences and a garbage dump heap of bionic refuse stacked and left to rust and rot. I have become increasingly interested in the closing gap between science fiction and science-fact. Cloning, transgenic breeding, surrogate mothering, surgical augmentation and food modification are just a handful of supposed advances that have sparked my imagination. I approach my work by imaging the experiments that have gone awry and try to create a world where the byproducts resist expiration. The juxtaposition of organic forms with sustaining mechanical devices suggests mankind’s imposition and calls to question the conflict between infliction and dependence. My paintings result in images of biomorphic beings, fluctuating between success and failure in their own dayglo world of desolation.

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Justin Henry Miller

Miller is currently a Professor and Area Head of Painting in the Department of Art and Design at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO. He received his MFA from the University of Notre Dame and both his MA and BA from Eastern Illinois University. Miller is represented by Zg Gallery in Chicago, Illinois and Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri. To view more of his work please visit:

www.zggallery.com/miller, and justinhenrymiller.wordpress.com