Welcome Bill Miller to Rice Polak Gallery
It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the work of Bill Miller. Bill Miller is an assemblage artist who uses vintage linoleum flooring as his palette. Linoleum was the ultimate interior medium, present in all aspects of 20th century life from Grandma’s kitchen to the corner drug store and neighborhood school. Miller’s innovative work is recognized for pictorial assemblages that rely only on the flooring’s found surface, with no added paint, to render his subjects.
Miller’s work has long been shaped by the tragic impact of industrialization. Bill moved to Pittsburgh as a young adult just as the steel industry collapsed, decimating long time communities and creating a rust belt of crumbling towns and massive structures. While scavenging, Miller was drawn to scraps of vintage linoleum, and compulsively began collecting it.
“I wanted to work with recycled material and I discovered that the linoleum I was finding looked like pieces of a painting — a van Gogh or an impressionist painting. I developed a desire to gather as much as I could. Along with being a collaborative artist, I was also a painter in acrylic and oil. I wanted to make those ideas out of flooring. There are a few things at play with using this material. Most compelling is that it was lived on. Whether it was a bedroom, kitchen, or living room, the scuffs and indentations show it.”
The gallery is now open on weekends and always by appointment and of course online. Please email or give me a call at 508-237-5499 with any questions or inquiries and with our new website you can now purchase artwork directly online.
Featured image: “Oliver’s Flowers,” 12 x 12 in.
