Gallery Statement

This is the first time that The Innuit Gallery has shown the paintings of R. Gary Miller. We are very excited about bringing his peaceful yet powerful and strikingly colourful oil on canvas landscapes and dramatic portraits to Londoners.

Gary is a Cayuga native. He was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Brantford, Ontario. Having spent several years in a residential school, the experience played a significant role in his decision to express himself through visual art. He is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Toronto. Gary resides and paints in Peterborough, Ontario.

Artist’s Statement

Is there a point between expression and abstraction in landscape where the observer can experience the ephemeral sensation imparted by a combination of elements so vast that visual overload often reads as mundane? I have always searched for more than the vista. The essential heartbeat of a scene translated into a language that expresses the interaction between the viewer and subject. Subjective Expressionism sounds like a good label! In deconstructing the landscape I can focus on a more lyrical interpretation of the relationships between natural elements and mood. There is no hierarchy of motifs. All stand on an equal footing and are integrated into a coherent pattern of colour, tone and value. The partial disregard for atmospheric perspective has freed me up for the maximum use of patterning and emphasis on pure colour relationships.

Selected Exhibitions

2005

Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Glenhyrst Gallery, Brantford, Ontario

Ingram Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

Russell Gallery, Peterborough

2004

McLaren Arts Centre, Barrie, Ontario  

2003

Ingram Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

Selected Collections

The Royal Ontario Museum, World Cultures Collection, Toronto, Ontario

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Toronto, Ontario

Her Majesty’s Royal Collection, London, England

Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre for Indian Art, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Canadian Embassy, Washington, DC

National Museum of Man, Ottawa, Ontario

Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford, Ontario

Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario

The Loyalist College Collection, Belleville, Ontario

Chiefswood Museum, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario

Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta

Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia

Selected Commissions

National Indian Brotherhood, Portrait of the late Omar Peters,

Former Vice President of the National Indian Brotherhood

Pauline Johnson Public School, Portrait of E. Pauline Johnson

Indian Hall of Fame, drawing of Omar Peters

Loyalist College, six paintings depicting the arrival and early days of the

United Empire Loyalists.

First Nations Technical Institute, painting of Mohawk encampment.

Numerous private commissions

Awards

2003 – Awarded Art and Materials Grant, Ontario Council

1987 – Awarded commission in competition to paint five paintings for the 200th Anniversary of the United Empire Loyalists, emigrating to Canada by the Loyalist College, Belleville, Ontario, on the occasion of their 20 th Anniversary.

1977 – Selected to Dine with Queen Elizabeth II in celebration of her Silver Jubilee. Honoured for achieving excellence in the pursuit of the arts.

1975 – 1980 Awarded Art and Materials Grants and Artist in the Schools Program from the Ontario Arts Council.