Colleen RJC Bratton
Amie Cunat
Drew Miller

Mineral Dive

August 05 – 29, 2021
Opening Reception / Thursday, August 05, 6–8pm

Summer/Covid-19 Gallery Hours:
Friday–Sunday, 12pm–5pm and by appointment

In Mineral Dive Colleen RJC Bratton, Amie Cunat, and Drew Miller find find connections within their work through the invention of lively forms and the use of imagery once removed from its sources. In the spirit of collaboration, Bratton, Cunat and Miller have composed a zine and posters to accompany the show. Coupled with bold color choices, their distinct processes and treatment of ideas offer a common tone of augmented, spiritual, or alien-like perception. While each negotiates the imagined or observed, they synonymously develop an interplay between what is evocative of or liberated from reality. Holistically, the work is thoughtfully constructed and materially rich — from Miller’s meticulous application of colored pencil marks that produce internal ambient effects in his drawings; to Cunat’s matte, velvet-like painting surfaces; to Bratton’s sculptures of tightly stacked, fabric pieces that are organized into subtle gradient shifts.

Bratton’s biomorphic sculptures explore her obsession with the sun, its symbolism and its implications for the future. A blending of personal spirituality, a science-fiction sensibility and a honed color palette infuse her minimal and often biomorphic objects.

Through paintings on canvas and site specific murals, Cunat readdresses notions of familiarity by exaggerating, punctuating, or arresting characteristics from observed experiences in order to reveal parallels between abstraction and perception. Comprised of hard edges, buoyant forms, and comic hues, her images of flora, fauna and built structures exist in a compressed space, which proposes otherworldly landscapes or urban vistas.

Miller’s process involves composting memories and abstracting imagined tableaus, ultimately taking form as colored pencil drawings and oil paintings. He starts by drawing a recognizable image or scene. Through constant revision, the imagery is digested and transformed into arrangements of abstract cartoons and forms that hold space for unexpected colors to vibrate and interact. His work conveys his interest in possible worlds of science fiction and the esoteric.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Colleen RJC Bratton (b. 1989 Richland, WA) lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Her installations and sculptural paintings look at the dynamic relationship between self and space and utilize colors, shapes, and textural choices as psychological symbols for an internal process. In 2012, Bratton graduated magna cum laude from Seattle University with a degree in Visual Arts and Philosophy. Since 2017 she has been an active member of artist-run gallery SOIL, one of the longest running artist co-ops of its kind (est. 1995).
Bratton has had solo shows in Seattle and Portland at the SPAC Gallery, Stumptown, Kinsey Gallery, Two Shelves and SOIL. Notable group shows include Altered Grain at Stay Home Gallery (Paris, TN), A Stranger Comes to Town at Spring/Break Art Show (New York City, NYC), Every Movement Reveals Us at Ditch Projects (Springfield, OR), Creature Comforts at Strobel & Sands (Seattle), By and By: Hope for the Future at Durden & Ray (Los Angeles, CA), and Made Personal at The Alice (Seattle, WA).
In 2019, she was a Stumptown Artist Fellowship recipient. Bratton has participated in multiple artist residencies including Vermont Studio Center and Cascadia (PNW). Her work has been reviewed by Art Maze Magazine, PLEAT, Open House, The Stranger, City Arts,and Booooom.

Amie Cunat (b. 1986, McHenry, IL) is a Japanese American artist, who uses painting and installation to confront familiarity by exaggerating or omitting characteristics from an observed source. Influenced by depictions of nature from early American painting, Shaker gift drawings, Japanese textile patterns, Art Deco, sci-fi and horror movies, Cunat's recent paintings include imagery of plant life that appear loud and flamboyant at the onset. Their exclamatory presence is prolonged through charged hue and abstracted form.
Cunat received her MFA from Cornell University, Post-Baccalaureate in Painting and Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her BA in Visual Arts and Art History from Fordham University. She has exhibited at Peep Project (PA), Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, Victori +Mo, Knockdown Center, Sunroom, Project Space at Wave Hill, ArtYard (NJ), DC Moore Gallery, and Crush Curatorial among others.
Her work has been reviewed and featured by The New York Times, ARTnews, Artsy, Artnet News, Title Magazine, Vogue Italia, ArtMaze Mag, and Two Coats of Paint.

Drew Miller (b. 1989, Spokane, WA) currently lives and works in Albuquerque, NM. He received a BFA in studio painting and printmaking and a BA in art history from Western Washington University.
In recent years, Miller has exhibited his work in group exhibitions including Space Camp (Good Naked, Brooklyn), Thrills (Over Under Room, Brooklyn), Animal Idealism (Harpy Gallery, NJ), Group Show (Harpy Gallery, Brooklyn), Filtergeist (Open House Gallery, Brooklyn), Debt Fair (516 Arts, NM), Offset Inn (Open House Gallery/ Spring Break Art Fair, NY). He was recently selected to participate in Viewing Program, a virtual studio visit program through The Drawing Center, NY.