A Visual Cacophony of People, Places, and Things Fill Chris Millar’s Mixed-Media Paintings

Known for his painstakingly intricate mixed-media sculptures, Canadian artist Chris Millar continues to test the bounds of scale and detail. Two recent works epitomize his ongoing explorations: “A Prize Every Time” and “Loom Beneath the Loam,” the latter of which contains eight tiny paintings, two relief sculptures, and numerous sculptural elements attached to a brass frame. Cartoonish pendants, vignettes with faces, branch-like tendrils and more lend the piece an enigmatic contraption-like quality, as if the pull of a hidden lever will send the entire thing into motion.

In a departure from his multimedia pieces, “A Prize Every Time” is a meticulously rendered acrylic painting containing some 90 portraits of notable figures from Alberta who populate a map of the province, where the artist originally hails from. It has the look of a tourism map merged with a look-and-find book.

“To an American audience, a lot of the Alberta-centric easter eggs will go over their heads, but even if they don’t know about Alberta’s history or geography, it’s a pretty fun painting to look at!” Millar says. You may recognize a few famous individuals, such as Michael J. Fox and Joni Mitchell, both of whom were born there.

See more on Millar’s Instagram.

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