Bold, pop art paintings fuse elements of Hockney and Wesselmann to express youth

When looking at the work of artist Ian Thomas Miller, it's hard to believe that he's only 22 years old. Based in Chicago, Miller's bold paintings and illustrations have earned him a wealth of online attention in the last few months, and when looking at this particular body of work it's easy to see why.

Using a collage effect, and bold colour-blocking, Miller layers multiple objects to create individual stories for each painting. Whether that be teenage boys hanging around doing nothing much at all, or girls blowing strands of pink bubblegum. The subject's faces are almost always obscured, which allows the viewer to apply elements of their own memories of lazy summer days to the scenes.

Hands tend to play a central role in the paintings, alongside predominant pop cultural references from the sixties and eighties. Some works display a nod to Hockney's A Bigger Splash, whilst others incorporate 'still life', favoured by artists operating under the pop artist movement.

This year is set to be particularly busy for Miller, who is currently working on a new series of work. There's also talk of a book in the near future, so watch this space. We're excited to see what comes next.

To see more from Miller, visit his website.

Via The Creators Project

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