Holly Miller, Shout 2, 2017, Acrylic, Graphite and Thread on Canvas

Acrylic, graphite and thread on canvas - Unframed The threaded lines suggest a physical barrier that interrupts the shapes and stops them from connecting and at the same time a transparency is created that allows the viewer to enter through the lines on the painted surface. The titles of each series can be interpreted as emotional, psychological and physical conditions. This recent work continues to explore color, shape, composition, form and texture to titillate the eye and awaken the senses. The titles of the new series reflect frustration and anxiety in reaction to today's contemporary American society yet the work attempts to convey emotional content that is positive and optimistic through a personal abstract language. The artist describes her work as follows:"A fine line between Sculpture and painting, Painting and drawing, Drawing and stitching, Stitching and healing, Healing and pleasure, Pleasure and seeing, Seeing and looking, Looking and touching, Touching and making ...Material and illusion, Thought and intuition, Mind and heart, Life and love." Holly Miller is an American abstract artist whose paintings strive to merge the optical with the tactile through the language of abstraction. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Communication through the touch (body language) has inspired her tactile abstract paintings. Miller's palette echoes the tones and hues of Italian industrial design from the 60's and 70's, while her shapes recall architecture and urban structures. Her work has a huge affinity to Fontana's physical approach to his paintings and Burri's tactile manipulation of the painting's surface. Ellsworth Kelly's bold shapes and colors have resonated with her on a purely optical level. Agnes Martin’s subtle, quiet, repetitive drawn lines, Fred Sandback’s strong architectural, minimal fiber lines drawn in space, Eva Hesse’s emotionally loaded structured webs, Richard Tuttle’s quirky and fresh drawings and humble objects, Bridget Riley's dynamic, optical compositions have left a deep impression on Miller inspiring her to carve out her own voice in Abstraction.