Brown Foundation Gallery

June 1 - August 18, 2024

ArtWalk Reception
Saturday, June 1, 2024
6 – 9 PM
Artist talk at 6:30 PM

These exhibitions are supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Artist accommodations generously provided by Hotel Lucine.

Presented in conjunction with PrintHouston 2024, a contemporary print biennial.

Erin Miller
Lucky Charm Casino

Lucky Charm Casino is an exhibition of print-based work by artist Erin Miller that examines the maximalist and ornamental nature of casino carpeting to investigate experiences of luck, control, risk, and pleasure. The work explores the psychological considerations made in the design of these sites of entertainment as tools for keeping patrons dizzyingly stimulated while simultaneously camouflaging their wear and tear. Miller investigates the more sinister motives behind these opulent design choices, and activates them in the work through pattern repetition, image obfuscation, and discordant color combinations.

The recurring use of lucky charms in the work, as long sprawling shapes floating in a sea of disorienting color and pattern, reference serotonin pathways and their association with pleasure and reward, as well as addiction and depression. This structural connection reinforces the psychological effect of these houses of vice, where opulence and restraint exist simultaneously, opposite experiences precariously balanced on the toss of a coin. Miller’s work resides at the nexus of these conflicting states of being: a mesmerizing pattern or a dissimulating camouflage, a win or a loss, pleasure or despair.

Erin Miller is an artist based in Austin, TX. While using print as a starting point, she traverses between disciplines—painting, drawing, textile-work, and sculptural installation—to investigate themes of perception and control. Textiles, carpeting, dyeing, and bleaching inspire a material exploration beyond the printing press, conflating in form and subject matter theatrically. Movie sets, casino carpets, stage design, prop building, and the Bouba/Kiki effect serve as anchoring points, where techniques of doubling are incorporated. In 2022 she received an MFA from Cornell University, where she was the recipient of the Kip Brady Memorial Prize in printmaking (2021 and 2022) and the John Hartell Graduate Award in studio excellence. She has exhibited in venues such as Ortega Y Gasset Projects (Brooklyn, NY), Neighbors Gallery (Ithaca, NY), and Box13 Artspace (Houston, TX). Miller most recently completed the Kahn Family Fellowship at the Ink Shop, located in Ithaca, NY and is a Lecturer and the Printmaking Area Lab Manager at the University of Texas at Austin.

erinmillerstudio.com