Chris Miller is part of Exposed 2011. He lives in Calais, Vermont.
I find that so much of my work comes down to creating illusion. With drawing, it is the illusion of depth and volume on a completely flat surface. With sculpture, it is creating a credible texture in a difficult material. Making a block of cold, hard marble express life and warmth or, as in Stumped, creating a wood texture in hard granite.
Each March, I join thousands of Vermont’s backyard sugar-makers, tapping about a hundred sugar maples. I approached this project with the idea of blending two important northern Vermont icons, granite and sugar maples. My hope is that the sculpture will cause a moment’s pause as it is approached from a distance: at first glance, a believable maple stump and, on closer viewing, solid Vermont granite.
Chris began carving in 1976. Although largely self-taught, he studied art in college, and then anatomy and sculpture with the late Lothar Wuerslin of Sandgate, Vermont, drawing and anatomy under Billy Brauer of Warren, Vermont, and worked alongside and collaborated with several of the country’s top stone sculptors in nearby Barre, Vermont.
Because crating and shipping several 3,000-lb. sculptures for inclusion in far-away exhibitions is impractical, Chris’ work doesn’t lend itself to building an impressive exhibition résumé. Instead, Chris has focused on commissions and installations. His work is in various private collections and sculpture galleries in Vermont.
ABOUT EXPOSED
For the past twenty years, the Helen Day Art Center has hosted an outdoor public art and sculpture exhibition called Exposed in Stowe, Vermont. Exposed hosts sculptures, site-specific installations, and participatory work from twenty-three national and international artists. the 2011 edition offers a series of Thursday night events by 12 video artists, writers, performers, and musicians accompany the exhibit. This exhibition and series of events is accompanied by cell phone audio tours, QR codes, walking tour maps, walkabouts, and a catalogue of the exhibit published by Kasini House Books. The exhibition will take place July 8th to October 8th, 2011.