Artist Statement: This naturalistic tiger-stripe piano builds upon my interest in camouflage and, in a playful manner, seeks to use visual means to alter the physical presence of this imposing instrument. As such, the Tiger Piano represents a variation on the concept of a camouflaged "dazzle" piano with which I worked during the 2013 Sing for Hope Pianos. A tiger's stripes are an example of cryptic or mimetic camouflage. In an urban setting, away from dappled shadows and long grass, these stripes no longer blend into the environment, but rather become eye-catching design elements with the potential of adding an entertaining and accessible visual dimension to a public piano. Paradoxically, while panthera tigris is a rare and endangered species (three of the eight tiger subspecies are already extinct), it is also one of the most easily recognized and popular animals, and it is often one of the first young children learn to identify. I have used a painterly glazing technique to render the texture and depth of tiger fur. This contrasts with the flat areas of complementary blue-green applied to the piano’s keys and soundboard. My hope is that, in this way, the piano is not only eye-catching at a distance, but also visually interesting up close.
Michael Miller, born in Glasgow, Scotland, trained in academic drawing at the Liceo Artistico Leon Battista Alberti in Florence, Italy, and subsequently in oil painting with the Laborarte Group in the same city. In 2006, he moved to Maputo, Mozambique, where he was heavily influenced by traditional designs, the work of local artists and, more generally, by the art and religious objects of Sub-Saharan Africa. While in Mozambique, he also began to collect and experiment with natural pigments. On moving to New York in 2010, Michael studied abstract painting, drawing and assemblage at the Art Students League of New York. In May 2012, he was awarded the League's Henri Matisse Estate Merit Scholarship. Since moving to New York, Michael has become increasingly involved in community-based public art projects. He is a volunteer artist for Sing for Hope, and from September 2012 to January 2015 he sat on the board of SONYA (South of the Navy Yards Artists) in Brooklyn. In 2014 he was selected as a visiting artist at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and he currently sits on the Yard’s Exhibitions Advisory Committee.
