Peter Miller was born in the Waikato in 1955. After moving to
Auckland, Miller studied life drawing with Peter Waddell and
Matthew Browne at Outreach (Artstation) from 1993 to 1995 before
attending Manukau Institute of Art & Design and graduating in
1998 with a Diploma of Visual Arts.
Miller's work traces its theoretical origins to the Northern
European tradition of 'Vanitas' painting, most prevalent amongst
Flemish and Netherlandish artists of the 16th and 17th
century. The Latin translation of 'Vanitas' encompasses the concept
of moral emptiness in relation to vanity and the coveting of
material possessions. The spiritual ramifications of this notion
led the Vanitas painters to express these concerns through symbolic
elements in their work. As such, Vanitas painting is distinguished
by its use of emblems such as the bare human skull to comment on
the transient nature of life, the inevitability of mortality and
the
futility and insignificance of mankind's pursuits in the face of
the endless passing of time.
Miller's work draws its impetus from the concepts of the Vanitas
tradition, but the heavy moral symbolism that characterised the
Vanitas genre is tempered by Miller's concern with its
philosophical, spiritual and religious implications. Where Vanitas
painters treated their subject matter as a warning of the
ramifications of vanity, Miller holds up his subject matter as
something to be desired: an object of sentimentality as well as
metaphorical comment. Painting simple and common objects such as
Crown Lynn china sets and Fun-Ho toys, Miller offers these objects
up to the nostalgic gaze. Meanwhile, the damage, wear and patina of
the objects within Miller's works indicate the fragility and
impermanence of material possessions and through this the fragile
nature of life itself.