“I’ve loved art ever since I was just a little girl. I remember always feeling at peace when I was coloring as a child, and this love has just continued to evolve over the years.
I was always fortunate to have a family that nurtured my artistic passion. I was born in Cuenca, Ecuador and adopted when I was three months old, so I’ve lived in Maine all of my life.
I remember attending an art camp at the Portland Museum of Art one year. I was drawing a lily in a garden and this powerful, overwhelming feeling took over. I was just amazed that I was able to put lines down on paper that echoed the world in front of me.
From that point on, I think I’ve always been chasing that feeling, that desire to naturally attempt realism. As the years have passed, I’ve grown to appreciate abstraction and embrace it’s imperfections. I’ve learned to embrace expressionism as it allows me to fully accept myself, without getting caught up in the finer details of what realism often asks us to do.
I have a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Southern Maine with a minor in Spanish and Studio Art. Almost a year after I had finished school, I was making smaller paintings but not really sure what I was doing or where I was going. I was scared and insecure to put myself out there.
There are so many talented artists out there doing “it,” making the work, showing their work, selling their work, and at that time in my life, I just wasn’t doing that for myself. If I wasn’t, I wondered, would I ever? I was so unsure of my art and myself. I talked with my boyfriend Drew about it, and he told me to ignore all of that — that was all so “out of my world” and it was okay that it was. And something made sense when he said that.
It allowed me to free myself from comparison, free myself from my own fears, and just commit to it. While someone else is so out of my world, I was so out of theirs. Our experiences are different and so are our journeys. I just needed to embrace who I was and what I had to offer, and pursue this passion of mine.
My work is a direct expression of my own internal world: My feelings, emotions, experiences, memories. It’s a visual depiction of what I think and what I’m going through. It’s a direct effort to communicate and have my work communicate with me.
My earlier works, mainly self-portraits, were influenced strongly by themes of identity. But more recently, I’ve become more influenced by connection to place and exploring physical and internal landscapes.
I’m really interested in the exploration of color and mark making, which describes the different lines, patterns and textures of each individual person's artwork. Those little details serve as evidence and prove the essence of the artist’s hand. Those marks can never be replicated, and I find that fascinating.
When I paint out of my home studio in Biddeford, I am constantly creating images I can respond to. Art has led me to larger realizations in life, helped me to build connections in the world around me, and exposed patterns and symbols I may not have otherwise noticed that guide me. I’m really inspired by the ways art allows me to express my world in ways I can’t through words.
To me, success as an artist in my own practice is being able to see myself grow. Success is a full wall of painting and a full sketchbook. It’s creating without fear of what others might think of you. It’s following your own pulse to create and to never give up on that. It’s about embracing vulnerability and having the courage to share it.
Art really is just a reflection of ourselves. We have the ability to share parts of ourselves when we share our art. It allows us the opportunity to process and express our own emotional responses in a really unpredictable world. And I think we need that now more than ever.” — Raquel Miller, Biddeford Resident
To learn more about Raquel and view further artwork, visit her website: www.raquelpmiller.com or follow her on IG: @raquelpmiller
