We are delighted to be introducing a new artist to start our 2024 exhibition programme, Zelga Miller. Based in Oxford, Zelga Miller joins the gallery’s contingent of women artists exploring the female experience and broader concepts of the human condition through figurative painting.

Zelga Miller's work speaks of layers, of peeling back the veneers of the everyday to contemplate what is beneath. Her work questions the surface, her scenes are imbued with a serenity which when examined closer hide a sense of disquiet.

She says, ‘My practice looks beyond the physical elegance of the line and more intensively towards the emotional vulnerability of the figure.’

Rooted in an archival approach, with an appreciation of the rich potential of drawing, her work often begins with a figure from memory or a photograph. Each composition is poised, there is a sense of balance and reflection, a moment before or perhaps after an event. The softness of Zelga’s colour palette gives each piece a dreamlike impression, this aesthetic feels intensely feminine and is an opening into her enquiring mind. In the painting ‘Caught in your Current’ a figure emerges from a beautiful swirl of soft blues, worked into the surface grain of the wooden panel, the woman engages us directly, challenging our assumptions of her, she is here by her choice, vulnerable and yet strong.

The exhibition will include a new series of works exploring the balance of the child – mother relationship. These are perhaps some of Zelga’s most physical works to date with multiple figures filling the space, not always directly interacting but side by side, almost in reach. In the work ‘Believe (in Me)’ two acrobats, perform a daring aerial trick, trusting each other implicitly, the gaze of the inverted woman meets a child’s, sat on branch, to reach out to it would mean letting go and to fall or to fail…….

Bolder colour creates impact in the collection of Zelga’s woodcuts that form part of the exhibition. ‘Jumping for Joy’ is a beautiful balance of bright turquoise and yellows, the energy of the dramatic pose is created by the white space of the composition. This space in Zelga’s work is a strong theme, giving room to develop personal connections and conversations around each piece.

Zelga’s practice uses a range of media, she moves deftly between printmaking, drawing and painting, in pursuit of a balance between a sense of stillness and dynamic fluidity. Ultimately, she says ‘I see my practice as examining humankind’s actions, emotions and subsequent resilience; I am fascinated by our capacity to adapt to adversity.’