A.B. Miner is a very talented painter who lives in Washington, D.C. And fortunately for me, he is a terrific writer so I can let him describe his own work:
My psychologically charged, intimately scaled oil paintings and drawings of the body are peepholes through which I grant viewers access to my secrets. I expose the complexities of gender and the ugliness that lies behind the socially acceptable façade of clothing and forced smiles and reveal an unexpected beauty that heightens the viewer’s self-awareness. The universal urge to confess helps me connect to viewers, whom may themselves be hiding emotional or physical scars.
In 2005 I began creating self-portraits. Motivated by my personal experiences as a female to male transgender person, these works chronicle my physical evolution and examine its related emotional sate.
Though representational, my often macro look makes the work border on the abstract while illuminating the formal elements I examine so closely. Scrapes are pink, and bruises are blue that fade to jades and then to golds. I am captivated by the alchemical properties of the human body which transfer trauma into delicate prettiness. I aim for viewers to be lulled by my sensuous, fleshy brushstrokes only to be shocked by the rawness of the subject. Like rubberneckers, they cannot turn away from what can be interpreted as ugly, uncomfortable and even, to some, offensive. This work emanates from my unique experiences, but I hope viewers will find themselves more conscious of their own bodies. In this way these pieces are like 2-way mirrors.
While differently motivated than artists such as Orlan, there is a performative aspect to the work. My body, like yours and like my paint is pliable. Taking testosterone made me aware that my body had become an artwork in a way; it is an object of my own creation. The multi panel painting “From There to Here” depicts the healing of my scars from chest surgery, after which it occurred to me that I had yet again mutated. This time a surgeon, like a magician, sawed me in half, but was not able to put me back together seamlessly. I carry this stranger's pentamente on my body; I have to live with the residue of someone else’s drawing emblazoned across my chest. Do these modifications make me more of a “real” man or do the marks prove me a simulacrum?
I have always been fascinated by dichotomies. I aim to deconstruct the barriers between the cruelty and artistry of biology, and the conflict of private and public, all the while doing so with aesthetic grace.
In 2005 I began creating self-portraits. Motivated by my personal experiences as a female to male transgender person, these works chronicle my physical evolution and examine its related emotional sate.
Though representational, my often macro look makes the work border on the abstract while illuminating the formal elements I examine so closely. Scrapes are pink, and bruises are blue that fade to jades and then to golds. I am captivated by the alchemical properties of the human body which transfer trauma into delicate prettiness. I aim for viewers to be lulled by my sensuous, fleshy brushstrokes only to be shocked by the rawness of the subject. Like rubberneckers, they cannot turn away from what can be interpreted as ugly, uncomfortable and even, to some, offensive. This work emanates from my unique experiences, but I hope viewers will find themselves more conscious of their own bodies. In this way these pieces are like 2-way mirrors.
While differently motivated than artists such as Orlan, there is a performative aspect to the work. My body, like yours and like my paint is pliable. Taking testosterone made me aware that my body had become an artwork in a way; it is an object of my own creation. The multi panel painting “From There to Here” depicts the healing of my scars from chest surgery, after which it occurred to me that I had yet again mutated. This time a surgeon, like a magician, sawed me in half, but was not able to put me back together seamlessly. I carry this stranger's pentamente on my body; I have to live with the residue of someone else’s drawing emblazoned across my chest. Do these modifications make me more of a “real” man or do the marks prove me a simulacrum?
I have always been fascinated by dichotomies. I aim to deconstruct the barriers between the cruelty and artistry of biology, and the conflict of private and public, all the while doing so with aesthetic grace.
Here are the two paintings I acquired:
Funny Face #5
Oil on gessoboard
8" x 6"
2004
Funny Face #6
Oil on gessoboard
8" x 6"
2004
Miner has a solo show this fall at G Fine Art.
JT, those are awesome.
Posted by: Aric | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 08:16 PM
I admire Al's work so much. Looks as if you have a couple of fine examples.
Posted by: Joseph Barbaccia | Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Thansk Aric and Joseph. Al is an amazing artist.
Posted by: J.T. Kirkland | Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:16 AM
I love that they are titled "funny faces". they look like funny faced but the cool colors hint to something dark. thanks for posting them here or else i would have never been exposed to them.
Posted by: Kat | Monday, April 06, 2009 at 12:47 PM