Serena Mitnik-Miller is known for her minimalist geometric compositions of interlocking patterns, lines, and organic, concentric shapes. She deftly uses subtle gradations of nature-inspired color — earth tones, grays, elemental blues, and greens — to suggest a kind of rhythmic liminal space, movement, and ongoing transition. Paradoxically, the compositions offer a sense of stillness as well.
For Journey at Sarah Shepard Gallery, Mitnik-Miller dives deeper into her exploration of the square format, finding the possibilities of exploration within a consistently sized frame. Rather than confining or limiting, the square offers Mitnik-Miller the chance to play with balanced proportions, to reimagine designs or ideas that might earlier have been set within a rectangle. The consistency of format creates connection but shows how different each individual piece can be. Similarly, she varies the amount of pigment in her colors, oscillating between barely there to deeper, more pronounced, discovering a sense of control within the notoriously elusive medium of watercolor.
Mitnik-Miller’s works evoke the natural world she chooses to live, work, and play within, reflecting the colors of California’s distinctive environment. The earth tones are inspired by the sandstone she lives among and greens by the abundant spring in California from rain. A surfer, she’s viscerally influenced by water, sand, and light.
