by Renee Wood
A special exhibit at Yering Station has brought together works from both Yarra Valley artist David Miller and his late father’s Charles Miller about embracing a quiet landscape.
David said it’s the first time Charles’ sculptures have been in an exhibit since he died in 1981 and a first for the pair to also be on display together.
“It’s a bit of a thrill actually to do that. I’d like to think he thought it was good,” David said.
Curator Ewan Jarvis often contrasts paintings with sculpture in the Cellar Door space and has done so for ‘Against the Current of Time’.
“Ewan rang me up and said I’ve found a sculptor; I think it’s your father from the work that I saw in your garden, so I said that’s a wonderful idea.”
David’s featured works are oil on canvas landscapes, and said he’s trying to paint ‘quietness’.
“I like the idea of finding a detail of the landscape that tells the viewer about all of the landscape.”
The works have mostly been completed during the pandemic – showing a reflection of when the time was quiet and calm, with some landscapes undisturbed.
The pieces are from travels both close and a far.
Mr Miller said his father’s work has been an influence and Charles’ pieces in the show were something he and his brother were part of.
“He built things out of clay, so that sculpture there would have been a big column of clay and we would’ve been just been sitting there, sticking bits of clay on and adjusting it.
“He made it but we would all be have been involved in it….. so he has to be an influence.”
David said he’s passionate about people learning more about art in the Yarra Valley and showing in a cellar door opens up to another audience.
“They’ve come here to taste wine; they haven’t come here to look at art…but I like that my work is being seen by people who maybe don’t go to art galleries.”
