Aunechei
Nerman Museum Of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
August 9th, 2024- December 8th, 2024
Gabriel Mills’ paintings are, in many ways, personal responses — responses to life events, to language, to music, and to one another. Viktor Frankl famously noted that, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” -Allison C. Smith, Ph.D.
Cielahn
Oil On Wood Panel, Diptych, 120"x120", 2024
Uelia
Oil On Wood Panel, Diptych, 120"x120", 2024
An Ending
Oil On Wood Panel, Triptych, 120"x168", 2024
Tesse
Oil On Wood Panel, Diptych, 12"x24", 2024The physicality of Mills’ work, with its exceptionally thick layers of oil paint and its visible, broad brushstrokes, seems to belie the artist’s intention that each mark represents the ethereal — thoughtful introspection.
-Allison C. Smith
The initial visual “disharmony” presented to the viewer by the contrasting relationship between color and form in Mills’ work reminds the viewer that there is no light without darkness, no love without first letting go of fear – in essence, the journey of self-discovery. The artist states, “I’m bringing my full self to each work, to then go on an arduous journey. The destination isn’t ever a physical location; it’s an internal realization.” Aesthetic experience that touches one’s soul is not only “an affirmation of the artist’s being,” as Mills posits, but of the receptive viewer’s as well. In this way, Gabriel Mills creates the most impactful of relationships – that between the artist and his audience.
-Allison C. Smith, Ph.D.