Interview #95
Chloé Kelly Miller
Chloé Kelly Miller is a young artist who lives and works in the center of Paris for 7 years.
Her work questions humanity, our instincts, our urges, our relationships.
Could you tell us a little about yourself? What has brought you into the art world?
“I started my journey into the art world 2 years ago, when I integrated my first gallery in Rouen, France. It happened with the help of another artist who offered me to meet the gallery owner. That was the moment when my life was changed forever. At this moment, they opened a door that I actually hadn’t dared to open before. At this time, I was in university for psychology studies and it was difficult for me to imagine another way of life. This meeting was decisive for my life: at the same time I was studying psychology and getting my degree, I started to create. These two things became the most important things in my life. At the end of university, psychology theories became my passion while art became both my passion and my job.”
Why do you do what you do and what inspires you most?
“I do what I do because it’s my reason to live. I figured this out a year ago, when I finished my psychology studies. At that time, I understood that all I need in life is to get up in the morning and create something, no matter the shape of it – just create.
It is quite difficult to describe where it comes from. It’s a unique experience : I can feel something growing inside of me, like a strength coming out of nowhere, which makes me understand that I don’t have any other choice than expressing it, through art. I’m inspired by life, the people around me, my studies in psychology theories, nature and our time.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
Through my art work, I want to question humanity, our instincts, our urges, our relationships. I want to externalise my vision of our time, the 21 century. In fact, I often let my movements follow their instinct. It depends on the mood I’m in and where I stand in my life at the time I paint. Sometimes, I prefer to question the love or the hate between human beings, and sometimes I prefer to paint nature, to build a sculpture with metal or clay.
I think that the artist is, in a way, forbidden to be free - but it’s a special freedom. You can’t escape from it, you just need to follow it – it imposes itself upon us. That’s the reason why I’m not strict with myself when I’m creating, because there is a strength that is somewhat stronger than me, but still happens to be the guide to my movements. Maybe artists are something like a barometer in society - we can’t control it, we just need to be aware of it.
My vision of art can be divided into 3 parts : the art work, the people and the artist.
My main goal is to get someone out of his or her comfort zone. I just want to give to the people that will look, touch or listen to my art work the possibility to discover something that they have never seen, or maybe rediscover it with a new perspective. You can’t reach everybody, but sometimes there are women, men or children that will be moved by your work, and that is the greatest achievement for me.
“I don’t look for a type of balance or something like that, I just paint, and I stop when the instinct disappears.”
How would you describe your work?
It’s difficult to describe my own work but I can try - with my biased mind and perspective. Again, the description of my art depends on the artwork in question. Sometimes I make a large canvas with characters having 4 eyes, a lot of colors, always with a black background, but almost entirely covered by a lot of colors. Sometimes, I paint a big bunch of flowers, which is commonly called still life, but I also make large canvases with a lot of colors, big flowers which include parts of the human body like arms, the head … There is something very dynamic in it, and I really like to do it on very large canvases. From time to time, I only use black and white, with different materials (spray bomb, acrylic painting or oil pastel) to make a special canvas without any control or thought. It’s a moment where instinct takes over. I don’t look for a type of balance or something like that, I just paint, and I stop when the instinct disappears.
What process, materials, techniques, etc., do you use to create your artwork?
I always use many things in the process, it depends on the idea I have about what the artwork is going to be, or the questions or hypotheses that I want to broach. Alternative to the linen canvas or paper, I also make sculptures with clay and flowers, or with metal and colors, or even wood and nail, photography and poems. I really love to discover and be curious about the different kinds of art, technique, or material. I’m young and I’m sure that my art will develop according to my reading and discovering. I’m looking forward to it but not too fast!
Which artists influence your work?
I’m an offspring of the 21st century and my generation grew up with a lot of different kinds of artists around the world : singers, painters, actors… and we were influenced by many of them - unconsciously. Personally, I deeply appreciate the black and white photography from photographers such as Sebastiào Salgado, JR, Willy Ronis or Steve McCurry. Also, in the painting category, I really love Picasso, Salvador Dalì and Jean-Michel Basquiat. From our time, I love Patti Smith’s poetry and photography, Banksy’s ideas and realisations throughout the world and Marina Abramović’s happening. These artists, and all of the others, participate in making the world while embodying parts of it – they all have something which interest and influence me.