Chris Miller: Confluence

An exhibition of abstract paintings by Napa artist, Chris Miller. Works for sale during the exhibition benefit the Museum’s non-profit arts education program.

“This work, produced in 2021, results from the practice of observation and interpretation of the everyday, macro and micro, both summarizing and enhancing in turns encounters with the natural world. Steeped in moods, fragments of dreams, curiosity/obsession with a shape, breaking that apart or honoring it, sorting compositional elements to allow a flux in the order, intrigued by ambiguity, a sampling of a visual journal that drifts past conclusions, tending to inquire rather than answer.” – Chris Miller

About the Artist

Chris Miller was born in Carmel, California and grew up in southern California. The San Fernando Valley was in its late transition from agriculture to suburb, and pockets of abandoned orchards were interspersed with emergent residential subdivisions. Those orchards and the nearby Santa Monica Mountains afforded access to the natural world, an expansive back yard and, as with many children, he was frequently absorbed in expressing experiences in crayon and colored pencil drawings, giving physical form to his imagination. He would also find inspiration and encouragement from his grandfather, animator and fantasist Walt Disney.

This art pursuit accompanied Chris through high school and college (Fort Lewis College, CU Boulder, UC Santa Cruz), adventures in the film and bicycle industries, and has gained momentum over the past decade. After raising their two daughters in Telluride CO,  Chris and his wife Catherine McNamee moved back to California, this time to Napa Valley’s Soda Canyon where they have lived since 2012. Chris is the son of the late Ron and Diane Miller, founders of Silverado Vineyards.