I graduated in 1987 from The Maryland Institute College of Art. I’ve been in several exhibits in the Baltimore area, including two shows at Baltimore ArtScape, two shows at School 33 Art Center and  an exhibit at Maryland Art Place. Outside of Baltimore I’ve exhibited in Annapolis, Maryland, Frederick Maryland, Ohio, Memphis, Tennessee, and Brooklyn, New York.

I now live and work in Glen Burnie, MD.

In the past 35 years my work has gone through many periods. In 1987 I began with a solo exhibit of paintings and constructions using ink on wood in Baltimore.

In 1990 I began a long series of abstract paintings resembling snakes. They were done using spray paint on bed sheets. By working in a series, I was free to paint spontaneously without having to focus on the content of my work. Out of this experience came a work at Maryland Art Place called Water Snakes in 1994.

In 1993 l constructed a room size installation at a warehouse gallery in south Baltimore. It was called Mr. Garden Meets Medicine Snake. It was about how my then recent diagnosis of having Bi-polar disorder met with  my self-image as an emerging artist and amateur gardener. That same year I did another installation in Frederick, MD. titled Ten Days in Bed.

In 1994 I went back to the image of the snake and combined it with childlike drawings. These took on a psychological aspect, having to do with a search for the inner workings of the psyche.

In 1997 I did two more room installations. One was at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore and the other was at the University of Memphis.

When the events of 9/11 took place, I began to look outside of myself into the workings of society and how it conflicted with my vision of a more peaceful existence. In 2004 I exhibited at School 33 Art Center. Due to a long depression I did very little artwork until 2008. It was then that I started the sociopolitical work.

In 2011 through 2012 I worked on a series of paintings about the ongoing war and the atrocities taking place in The Democratic Republic of Congo. I studied how any person can turn into a monster, given the right circumstances. In 2014 I exhibited at The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Brooklyn, New York.

 

email: mark@artbymarkmiller.com