Statement & Resume

More Paintings

The images in my work are derived from a synthesis of influences including: science fiction, anatomical illustration, cartoons, controversial trends in science, general themes in nature, and personal experiences.

Growing up on a horse farm I witnessed first-hand, man’s conscious manipulation of nature.  Selective breeding and the factory-like production of an annual crop of new animals was the norm.  Seeing my father perform artificial inseminations, ultrasounds, and inoculations on this livestock proved to have a lasting impact.

I have become increasingly interested in the closing gap between, science fiction and science-fact.  Cloning, transgenic breeding, surrogate mothering, surgical augmentation and food modification are just a handful of supposed advances that have sparked my imagination.  I approach my work imaging the experiments that have gone awry and try to create a world where the byproducts resist expiration.  The juxtaposition of organic forms with sustaining mechanical devices suggests man’s imposition.  This relationship also creates an ambiguity between coexistence, infliction, and dependence.  Also important to note, is my consistent use of a synthetic, “candy-land” palette employed to seduce viewers into this uncanny world.  The results are images of biomorphic beings, fluctuating between success and failure in their own pastel world of desolation.

My new exhibition, "The Fallout Kingdom," creates this parallel world, providing a glimpse into the aftermath of our own planet’s seemingly inevitable demise.  Despite this vanitas, the characters in my paintings display a whimsical resiliency, as they salvage the leftovers and reclaim the detritus to carve out a new candy-coated existence.

2nd Place, Inhabitants: Creatures of Imagined Worlds, National Juried Exhibit,
Slocumb Galleries, Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
2nd Place, Subliminal: Hidden Messages, Nat'l Juried Exhib, Arts Council. SEMO, Cape Girardeau, MO

2010

Merit Award recipient from the South Bend Regional Biennial Purchase Award recipient from the South Bend Regional Biennial

The Fallout Kingdom, New Paintings by Justin Henry Miller, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Dark Wonders: Michael Baird & Justin Henry Miller, Arts Council of SE MO, Cape Girardeau, MO
Strange Dayz: Justin Henry Miller & Scott Ziegler, Indiana University,  South Bend, IN
Level-Up, Edwardsville Arts Center, Ewardsville, IL
Winter Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Creatures, Art St. Louis Gallery, St. Louis, MO
12" x 12": A National Exhibit of Small Works of Art, Todd Art Gallery, Middle TN State Univ., Murfreesboro, TN
Inhabitants: Creatures of Imagined Worlds, Slocumb Galleries, E. TN State Univ., Johnson City, TN
Face Off, Heritage Hall, Cape Girardeau, MO
Subliminal: Hidden Messages, National Juried Exhibition. Arts Council of SE MO, Cape Girardeau, MO.

With Love From The No Coast, 1975 Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Rosenzweig Annual Juried Exhibition, The Arts & Science Center for SE Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR
Summer Stock, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Mapping the Mississippi, Themed Portfolio, Art Market Gallery,
Southern Graphics Council Int'l Conference, Knoxville, TN
Monumental Ideas/ Intimate Scale: A National Juried Exhibition, River Campus Art Gallery, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO
Cyber Rituals, Print Exchange and Exhibition, University of North Carolina, Pembroke
Rock Paper Scissors, Traveling Faculty Exhibition, University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, TN

Justin Henry Miller, Forgotten Future, solo show, Arts Council of Southeastern MO, Cap Girardeau, MOBrilliant Optics, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Brewskies,  Wunderkammer Company, Fort Wayne, IN
Summer Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Members Show, Artlink Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN
69th Annual Juried Show, SWOPE Museum of Art, Terre Haute, IN
Zg Gallery Spring Group Show,  Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

Justin Henry Miller: Beyond the Afterglow, Tarble Art Center, Eastern IL Univ., Charleston, IL
68^th Annual Juried Show, SWOPE Museum of Art, Terre Haute, IN
Fort Wayne Museum of Art Artist Members’ Exhibition, Fort Wayne, IN
Zg 10, group show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

2011 Wabash Valley Juried Competition, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, IN
Sharpie Show, Artlink, Fort Wayne, IN
MDW Fair, participating artist, Chicago, IL
Zg Winter Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

2010

Remnants of a Radiant Tomorrow, Just Henry Miller Solo Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Organic Perspectives, Group Exhibition, Artlink Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN
Zg MMX, Group Exhibition. Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Highly Personal, Isis Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

2009

Midwestern Museum of American Art, Juried Competition, Elkhart, IN
Crossroads Gallery Group Exhibition, South Bend, IN
In Between, Krasl Gallery, St. Joseph, MI

SWOPE Juried Exhibition, SWOPE Museum of Art, Terre Haute, IN
Little Critters, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL. Solo exhibition
Ready for War, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Publications:

Fort Wayne Reader, Biological Canvas, New Exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, April 3, 2014
The Journal Gazette, Seeing art inside out by Keiara Carr, April 4, 2014

New City, review by Michael Weinstein, and Top Five Pick, September 20, 2010, pg.10
Art Letter, review by Paul Klein, September 10, 2010
Bluecanvas Magazine issue 6, October 2010
INstudio with Justin Henry Miller, Artlink's Summer 2010 Genre publication

Justin Miller: Painter, Art Scene. Fort Wayne Museum of Art Winter 2009 News/ Events Catalog

Miller Time: Mishawwka Artist's Other Worldly Works Highlight Group Show.
Jeremy D. Bonfiglio. South Bend Tribune. December 10, 2006.
Visions of the Future in the Gallery’s Farewell Show. Alan Artner, Chicago Tribune. 4/21/06, Pg. 27

Public Collections:

Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
Zayed University, United Arab Emirates