Giselle Miller’s show, “Meandering,” will hang in the Haines Brewing Company through the end of May.
Although social-distancing practices have marked the end of many community events this spring, Haines School art teacher Giselle Miller decided this would not be the fate of her art opening. The show had been scheduled for First Friday in April before being cancelled. On Friday, April 10 at 5 p.m., Miller will host a Facebook Live event introducing her art to the public.
Last summer, Haines Brewing Company owner Jeanne Kitayama asked then newly arrived Miller if she would like to showcase her work at a First Friday event the following April. Miller said she spent the winter working on pieces for the event, including hand made frames. Then COVID-19 happened.
Though Miller teaches art at the school, she said until now, no one in the community has seen her personal work. “I knew that the art show wouldn’t happen, but I still wanted to showcase this art that I’d been working on.” She said she realized postponing the event would mean delaying for a year as the brewery’s space is in high demand.
Miller said it occurred to her that while people are no longer congregating in public, they are consuming a great deal of images online. She decided to use Facebook Live to allow people to see her work without having to leave their homes.
Miller said the idea for the pieces in her show, titled “Meandering,” came from an exercise she conducted with her art students last fall, which drew her attention to “the connection between the human form and Alaskan rivers.” Miller pursued the idea, pouring over local aerial maps to find female figures in rivers and landforms like the Devil’s Elbow, to produce a series of pen and ink drawings with acrylic paint based on these images.
The painting “Tsirku Angel,” by artist Giselle Miller, gives the local river landmark “Devil’s Elbow” a new soul.
Physical location was an important aspect of her show, Miller said. She measured the space in the brewery and built her frames to fit. She said Kitayama and Haines Brewing Company co-owner Paul Wheeler encouraged her to hang her pieces even though April First Friday had been cancelled. The pieces will remain up until the end of May, visible to patrons who enter the brewery to purchase growlers.
Miller said she plans to walk viewers through the space during her Facebook Live event. She said while she is sad to lose the in-person feedback that comes with a physical art opening, she appreciates the opportunity to showcase her work and create an event where people in the community can come together, despite physical distance.
Those interested in purchasing prints of Miller’s pieces or framed originals can contact her through email at [email protected].