XVA Gallery – “Witnessing Us”, a solo exhibition by Solimar Miller
Join us from January 25th – March 6th, 2023 to discover the latest collection of Solimar
Miller’s figurative works exhibiting at XVA Gallery.
Curatorial Statement:
The land is our home. All the land on Earth is a gift to us received at birth, so taking care of it is both a privilege and a necessity. Regeneration, reforestation, composting, and recycling, among other actions, should be on the priority list of every human being. Healthy soils lead to healthy plants, including trees, and a nourishing environment.
Soil erosion began when humans invented the plow, and millennia later, millions of acres of land worldwide are now irreversibly damaged, many driven into states of desertification. The porous field where billions of microbes live in the soil has also been affected by the spraying of pesticides and other industrial chemicals. These poisons have made their way into the soil and the waterways, ultimately entering human consumption.
Through their leaves, trunks, and root systems, trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide together with other harmful toxins and air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
and the ultrafine particles that we breathe in daily. In addition to contributing to soil erosion, the felling of trees and the stripping of vegetation causes the release of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, disrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem and exposing all life to danger.
“Witnessing us” reflects her yearning to connect with the environment’s trees, plants, and wild botanicals to examine the connection between humans and their interactions with
nature; throughout the past, present, and future. With her drawings, paintings, photography, and silkscreen artworks, Miller documents the wild botanicals as living witnesses of Earth. In many of her artworks, she overlaps the trees and the branches of different species to demonstrate how vital communication is to their existence, as well as illustrate how the
branches of trees and plants grow in intentional directions towards a fragrant fruit or blossom.
“Every day I supply oxygen for up to four people. Do you think I am worth saving?”
– A Tree
About the Artist
Born in 1969 in Puerto Rico, Solimar Miller is a multidisciplinary artist and textile designer who specializes in silkscreen artworks based on her observational drawings that highlight the unique qualities of the indigenous flora and the expanse of naturally growing tree species in the United Arab Emirates, where she has been living for twenty-five years.
With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Textile Surface Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and having studied Illustration at Parsons School of Design in New York, Solimar strives to illuminate the vulnerability posed by global warming to all plant life with as much detail as possible.
About XVA Gallery
XVA Gallery is one of the leading galleries in the Middle East that specializes in contemporary art from the Arab world, Iran, and the Subcontinent. Exhibitions focus on works by the region’s foremost artists as well as those emerging onto the scene. The gallery’s artists express their different cultural identities and perspectives while challenging the viewer to drop prejudices and borders. XVA Gallery and XVA Art Hotel are located in Dubai’s heritage district, now called Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood. XVA founded and organized the Bastakiya Art Fair from 2007- 2010 as part of its commitment to raising the profile of contemporary art practice in Dubai.