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JOSEPH MILLS : THE LOVES OF THE POETS DETAILS: Joseph Mills DESCRIPTION: Joseph Mills has formed a picture of the universe that is different than most of us carry. At age 21, he experienced a psychotic break, a schizophrenic episode that put him in an asylum for six months, half of which was spent in a complete and seamless delusion. ìI slipped into this state as something of a card-carrying existentialist and came out like a newborn ñ fragile, totally vulnerable, but with an unshakable knowledge of there being great meaning to this life, of there being an undeniable harmony to ëthings,' of there being absolute truth, one that is mirrored by art that is pure.î In these surreal photo-collages, Mills distills and transmits these perceptions, bringing together the past, present and future. The result is a series of strangely beautiful collages, bizarre yet eerily familiar ñ as though we are remembering something we never knew. Mills's work has been shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and at Hemphill Fine Arts, in Washington DC. "With the photomontages, Mills uses techniques to convince us that the surreal is real. Ordinary daily rituals are suddenly transfigured by our worst fears. Reality is out of control. Fears that we usually suppress may not be baseless.... the [images] exist on the edge of horror and beauty." — Anne Wilkes Tucker |
