Sanctum

Crisis, ink

City Gallery is exhibiting Marck Allen Miller’s ink drawings and paintings for the month of January. This collection of figures and inventive worlds, titled, Sanctum, is deeply personal to Miller and are what he considers mysterious artifacts of the mind and heart. Miller’s art-making practice is a form of comfort. Miller isn’t too concerned with the result of the work; it is the activity of making it that is of most importance.

Miller often draws on grid paper or other found materials, things that already have character when he begins drawing. Miller likes to include diagrams, flowcharts, esoteric magic symbols, and schematics that are encrypted in his drawings. He also enjoys taking these infographics that are attempting to explain something specific and using them to communicate something more ephemeral. Miller reflects on his interest in symbols: “Rather than communicating clearly, these represent a failure to feel understood.” 

Top Left: Shopping Cart No. 2, ink

Top Right: Tablets (Two Dozen Commandments or More), ink

Bottom Left: Sensorium, ink

Bottom Right: After Giacometti, ink on drafting vellum

Many of the works are even meant to confuse viewers. The chaotic sensibility in the work leaves it up to the viewer to sift through their own interpretations. Miller’s work is often small, with at times minuscule handwriting spelling out words and phrases that make the viewer take a closer look: “I try to make it ambiguous to figure out. I want to draw people in to look at the work more than once, and then they can decide their own meaning or lack of meaning.”

The show can be viewed anytime during the months of January in the City Gallery during Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The works can also be viewed and purchased on our online gallery through February.