Brighten and Fade

Artists

• Kristen Miller

Statement

A couple of years ago, to experiment with some new materials and techniques, I began making small collages with bits of foil paper and cardboard to combine with my beaded and stitched works. Seeing the play of light within the foil collages next to the mat, camouflaged surfaces of the beaded and stitched works, it struck me that instead of two distinct pieces joined together, time had lapsed and one piece had transformed into something else.

Thoughts and concepts of time and transformation remained important to me while spending February through April in Kemijärvi, a lake town in the Arctic Circle region of Finland. Experiencing winter into the beginning of spring, my stay began with dark afternoon skies and silent, snow-covered landscapes and ended with brilliant sunlight, melting lakes, and the migration of birds.

Taking walks, sometimes multiple times in a day, I would revisit places observing both subtle and dramatic changes. Snow both hid and accentuated the shape of objects. A nondescript snow mound one day melted to reveal a tiny gravestone the next. An iceskating rink in a schoolyard gradually became a green soccer field. Watching the horizon from the lake at dusk, smoke turned from gray to pink to blue with the setting sun. Seeing and feeling the continuous change of light, temperature, and weather in such a direct way made me feel closer to time.