Lunchtime Lecture: Theodora Miller

Theodora Miller is a painter that focuses on color, texture, and making intuitive marks. She was always interested in art, but never pursued it as a career. After a traumatic brain injury, she was unable to move or think properly. She found that painting was a way to get out her frustrations without focusing on the end result of what she was doing. She continued making abstract art even after recovery. Her latest projects include layers of painted organic shapes on wood, so that previous layers peek through gaps in current ones; Greek proverbs painted over and over with bright colors; and Ancient Greek letters decorated with vibrant touches of acrylic, celebrating her Greek heritage. Her work has been used in interior design and shown in many galleries and magazines.

I find Theodora's artist mark to be really distinctive and interesting. There's a combination of complicated and simple elements that make the piece really interesting, but not overwhelming. A problem I have with a lot of abstract expressionism is that they're either really busy, to the point that it looks uniform, or really simple, with no point of looking any closer.

I connected to this artist a lot and she'll be an inspiration in my future work. Like me, she's a second generation immigrant and felt pressure to get a job that's financially stable. Now, she's working at a "normal" job and doing art as well. I like the idea of being an artist without ONLY being an artist. I would like to do something similar when I'm older. I also appreciate how connected she is with her heritage. I always feel anxious bringing up that I'm Chinese or a minority in general. As weird as it sounds, it's reassuring that a white person can comfortably bring up their culture because it reminds me that I'm allowed to do the same.