GLEN MIES

JULY 9 - 30, 2021

Painting is largely about rejecting a false sense of control. I want my practice to serve as a metaphor for letting go of unnecessary concerns and carrying expectations lightly. In 2019, I fell seriously ill and simultaneously began to work more abstractly. It was not only a way for me to cope with being somewhat incapacitated, but also an exercise in faith.

Illness revealed the fragile nature of my existence. Painting without planning became my way of expressing the importance of being present. I still sometimes start with a specific image in mind, but usually forget about it after laying down a color or two. It’s better to obey the work than to try to bend it to my will.

This recent series represents a shift in my approach to making art. I have been mostly accustomed to creating representational imagery and still enjoy doing so, but abstraction presents a welcome challenge. Approaching a canvas without knowing what the result will be forces me out of my comfort zone. Rather than fleshing out a preconceived idea, I must rely more on intuition. Painting abstractly requires taking more risks and trusting that my hands know what to do. It is about believing that something worthwhile is there, waiting to be discovered, and without knowing what it is until I’ve shown up and put in the effort.

I appreciate the qualities of oil and acrylic paints, equally, and use both. In terms of execution, I prefer not to limit myself to brushes and employ various tools, such as squeegees, putty knives and rags. Occasionally, I also like to apply sequins or rhinestones to my paintings. Each piece goes through numerous stages and all of them end up looking quite different from how they began.

The act of painting fascinates me as much as the outcome. I don’t think of the results as pictures so much as records of a process that is just as physical as it is mental. They are not polished, but rather bear traces of the actions that revealed them. I work on each piece until it is done with me.