Cielo Nuovo Iris / New Sky Iris

Painted dichroic glass
H 80 x W 100 x D 13 cm
2025

A sculptural, faceted work made of painted dichroic glass in the form of a shallow bowl.

The use of metal oxides in the glass-making process, including gold and silver, dates back to the Romans; a technique that alters both colour and reflectiveness depending on the angle of view. Today, it’s widely used in optical glass where the colour of light needs to be altered in some way. By painting on this surface, Miller further transforms the glass into a unique and tantalising material.

Cielo Nuovo Iris evolved from the first mirror work: Untitled Mirror 1, that came from a charcoal drawing, Italy, 2006.

I have come to see the catalogue of my own work as a structure in itself, something that can be formed in much the same way as the individual sculptures that I make. With this in mind, it occurred to me that I could look at my past works as if I had not made them with my own hands. Indeed, I could think of them as belonging to a forgotten age, their meaning lost in time. I imagined I was in a field, finding an object from Roman times, staring at an artefact separated from its time. With this caprice in mind, I was able to see my sculptural mirrors as if I had never seen them before.

Paradoxically, I was able to look forward by thinking about the past. Suddenly, I felt free to re-invent the forms of my own work.

2025