Outcomes

By Andrew Frost

The sun and sunlight has been a recurring motif in Viv Miller’s painting for a number of years. Depicted as blazing globes behind trees, as rays of light given anime-style exuberance with jagged edges, pixelated sunsets over the ocean, or as abstracted lines and cross hatches, Miller’s paintings depict both the source of light and our ability to interpret it. With a nod to traditional Japanese landscapes, Miller’s latest show separates out elements of her previous work and elaborates on others.

The magisterial splendour of Again [2012] is the most photophilic of the show, a yellow sun over an orange background, accreting from solid colour into a subtle patterning, while And Again [2012] and Pastorale [2012] shift the focus between foreground and background, dropping out sections of the image in a representational play. A series of works on paper are entirely schematic, suggesting the reduction of the canvases down to their essential elements. The large-scale Solid Air [2013] combines the schematic and illustrative, suggesting all we see in the show is a canny construction, an illusion to be enjoyed, but an illusion nonetheless.

Until June 15

Gallery 9, Darlinghurst

https://www.gallery9.com.au/work/#/viv-miller/

Pic: Viv Miller, Again 2012 oil, enamel and pencil on canvas 120 x 120 cm