Anna Miller

Reviews:

“The collection of canvases called “Refractions“, by the artist Anne Miller, is comprised of six sub-series of paintings that are all abstract impressions of different phenomena found in nature. While the artist finds her inspiration in the tangible, such as plants and flowers, her main focus is on capturing the patterns and rhythm created by light, color, form and even sound.
      This collection of painting is a fully cohesive and mature body of work. Even though each sub-series reflects a distinct approach to the overall subject matter, the collection as a whole is bound by an aesthetic that feels both contemporary and timeless. The artist succeeds in combining elements of abstract expressionism with cubism and even op art in a creative way that feels original and fully her own.
     Anna Miller’s work inspires the viewer to look at nature in a different light and to look deeper in order to understand that nature is a multi-faceted mystery and much more than what meets the eye.”

by Nils Krueger
www.onlineartcoach.com



     “The paintings of Anna Miller feature intricate, biomorphic patterns, illuminated by her unique, evocative style of refractive light.  These intriguing paintings, suggesting flora, fauna, and the insect realm  are characterized by carefully painted, harmonious color relationships, at once subtle, yet sparkling.”

by Professor Jennifer Roberts Almodova
Academy of Art University, San Fransisco


    “The work of Anna Miller shows the mastery of media that comes from classical training. However, Anna’s traditional training did not serve to pigeonhole her into traditional subjects or genre. Rather, her work is constantly exploring, changing and evolving into something fresh and new. From her more traditional realism and figure studies to abstractions, her metamorphosis continues.
    Anna’s more recent abstract studies are perfectly balanced studies of the refractions of light found in nature. Simplified yet intricate studies of shape and pattern fill these new canvases. Ironically, she credits her new vision to the decline of her eyesight, which allows her to see the world in a new and different way.
    As you view her surprising paintings, I’m sure that you also will expand your own unique form of vision, as she intended.”

by Karen Burt Coker
Independent Art Historian

"In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water,
from which flow only streams of clearest crystal."

Saint Teresa of Avila

Biography

EDUCATION, EARLY WORK AND TRANSITION.
    I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil.  My mother recognized my talent, and encouraged me to start my journey on the long road of art education.  In my early teens, I enrolled in a college level art school.  Later I was accepted at National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture of Ukraine.  After earning my Masters in Painting, I began teaching art at college level.  I worked  as a college faculty member for twelve years and then I decided to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California.
    My earlier work was representational, with some abstract elements.  Looking back, I can see that abstraction was always present in one form or the other in many of my paintings.
    During my education, I struggled to find a happy median between my academic education and abstract art, which intrigued me.  I was attempting to merge two styles of art, realistic and non-realistic.  Then was I decided to move away from figurative art completely and devoted all my time to abstract paintings.


INSPIRATION
    My vision began to worsen early on in life.  However, I often would not wear my glasses and would start seeing the world differently from the position of a nearsighted person.  It was a world without details but with interesting designs, fragments of light with shadows, and  incomplete patterns. One of my favorite examples of fragmentation was the fluid design created by light in moving water.  The movement of light through water was captivating and meditative:  It always brought peace to my soul.  My paintings expressed refractions of light.  Refractions comes from the observation and perception of color and light patterns found in nature.  During painting of these new designs based on refractions, I would get lost in meditation of color, shapes, and lines, discovering limitless possibilities and combinations.