Palimpsest

Conversations of Past, Present, and Print curated by Dilara Miller

Palimpsest Show Photo

Opening Reception
Saturday, April 12
4 -6 pm

Exhibition Dates
April 5 – May 17

The DRAW Gallery
22-24 Iwo Jima Ln, Kingston, NY

Admission is free and open to the public

Palimpsest, a print exchange organized by Devon Stackonis and Jacob Taylor Gibson. This printmaking portfolio considers the palimpsest as a tool for exploring personal narrative. Twenty-five artists were asked to evaluate how deliberate attempts at remembrance may create new narratives and create a hand-printed work in response.

Palimpsest: noun
1. a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.
2. something that has a new layer, aspect, or appearance that builds on its past and allows us to see or perceive parts of this past:

This portfolio explores the palimpsest as a tool for exploring personal narrative. Memory is perceived as unquestionable and foundational in regards to our present selves despite its unreliability. In some instances this is refuted through intentional attempts to forget or distance ourselves from specific memories and in other instances we preserve these experiences with an approach of familiar, warm comfort. This portfolio questions personal association with memory whether it be its unreliability, purposeful attempts at erasure, or efforts of preservation.

Artists Featured:

  1. Miguel A. Aragon, New York City, NY – http://aragonmiguel.com
  2. Michael Barnes, Saint Charles, IL – http://michaelbarnes.us
  3. Jacob Bautista Madison, WI – https://jbaut336.wixsite.com/
  4. Grant Brownlow Lafayette, IN – https://www.grantmbrownlow.com
  5. Magaly Cantu Denton, TX – https://www.magalycantu.com
  6. Alejandra Carrillo Indianapolis, – https://www.instagram.com/elrallonadero
  7. Zoë Couvillion Athens, OH – http://www.zoecouvillion.com
  8. Andrew Decaen Denton, TX – https://andrewdecaen.com
  9. Lya Finston Iowa City, IA – https://lfinston.wixsite.com/lyafinston
  10. Chenxi Gao Denton, TX – https://chenxigaoart.com
  11. Jacob Taylor Gibson Denton, TX – https://www.jacobtaylorgibson.com
  12. Rie Hasegawa Brooklyn, NY – https://nyaa.edu/graduate-program/faculty/rie-hasegawa/
  13. Emily Harter Chicago, IL – https://emilyharter.com
  14. Juana Estrada Hernández Hays, KS – https://juanaseemyprints.weebly.com
  15. Madeline Herrera Denton, TX – https://cvad.unt.edu/people/grad-st/herrera-madeline
  16. Christina Kang Cambridge, MA – https://christinamkang.com
  17. Annie Klein Iowa City, IA – https://raggedanne.com
  18. Cate Kramer Miami, FL – https://catherinekramer.myshopify.com
  19. Sarah Marshall Tuscaloosa, AL – https://art.ua.edu/people/sarah-marshall
  20. Dilara Miller Accord,NY – https://dilaramiller.com
  21. Michael G. Miller Athens, OH – https://www.instagram.com/ubermill
  22. Kathryn Polk Solsberry, IN – https://www.wallyworkmangallery.com/kathryn-polk.html
  23. Lila Shull St. Paul, MN – https://lilashull.com
  24. Russ Spitkovsky Guttenburg, NJ – http://www.spitatart.com
  25. Devon Stackonis Madison, WI – http://www.devonstackonis.com
  26. Evan Summer Kutztown, PA – https://www.evansummer.com
  27. Erin Wohletz Vermillion, SD – http://ewohle.otherpeoplespixels.com

Dilara Miller is an interdisciplinary artist based between Mersin, Turkey and the Hudson Valley, New York who received her BFA from The University of Colorado, Boulder and her MFA from Northern Illinois University with an emphasis in printmaking and ceramic methods. Dilara has had her work featured in national and international exhibitions such as the Woman, Life, Freedom exhibit in Chicago, Illinois, ALHAMDU | Muslim Futurism exhibit in Colorado Springs, and the 8th International Lithographic Symposium in Tidaholm, Sweden, as well as having been published in the MAPC Journal and The Hand Magazine.

Dilara’s work critiques and reflects on the social/cultural effects of being a Turkish-American Muslim woman in today’s society. By referencing antiquities and how they are presented today, she identifies hierarchies in human history through an eco-feminist lens. Her work reflects on the role of the artist and the historical testimony we leave behind, seeking to record her experiences within our Anthropocene as colored by mythic and Islamic teachings. Dilara pulls from historical epochs to generate a foundation to examine our contemporary treatment of women related to our current climate crisis. Through working with ceramics, she emulates Ottoman and Byzantine-era artwork through traditions of materiality and storytelling. Ceramic works outlast empires, and it is through this that she is able to make metaphors pertaining to the way we view our past, present, and future. Dilara centers women’s place within the domain of spirituality, as that experience has been historically rejected, despite women’s innate connection to life and the natural word. By retelling these dogmatic stories she invites the viewer to pose philosophical questions regarding the generational cycles we participate in. Dilara’s work reimagines a world that values our sacred relationship with the Earth, her ecology, and our place within the universe.