Garden Stories. Oil Paintings by Doretta Miller

About

These paintings combine a long-standing interest in museum dioramas with preoccupations about current events, especially environmental and geo-political tensions.

Artist Statement:
Environmental conservation, bio-diversity, global and ethnic uneasiness, mankind’s relationship to the planet earth, and even space explorations all come to mind as Miller began the new series, Garden Stories. Using the remnants of fall gardens as the stage, she set up narratives using miniature toys that included animals, fire engines, and astronauts. Shooting photo references at ground level provided a new perspective into the mysteries of the end of season gardens with their intriguing plant densities. A Chicago native, two of Miller’s favorite destinations were the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History, where dioramas became fascinating stages of by-gone eras and extinct cultures, mind-bending forays into the galaxies, and museum cases housing precious artifacts. This oil painting series is inspired by a diorama aesthetic, and creates images that transport the viewer into strange new worlds where imaginative associations are the norm, and questions begin to bubble up, needing our attention.