Bob H. Miller: REFLECTORAMA

Bob H. Miller has always had an intense interest in science and technology and their application in image making. The office copy machine, the instant Polaroid camera, photograms, holograms and the pinhole camera have all played a part in his development as an artist. Miller incorporates theories and tools of science into his residencies and work, using fundamental drawing and painting instruction, basic animation, collage and batik. His reflective collages are tediously made of hand-cut pieces of “Scotchlite” reflective sheeting applied to panels. Scotchlite was designed to reflect light from automobile headlights and is commercially used for street signs and on emergency vehicles for night visibility and safety. Miller has repurposed this industrial product to create a unique visual and aesthetic viewing experience.

Highly respected and widely exhibited, this diverse and prolific artist has worked with students of all ages in his native state of South Dakota for over thirty years through the Artists In Schools & Communities program. Miller holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Dakota, and a Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts from South Dakota State University. The artist was recently included in the “American Perspectives” exhibit, which debuted at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. His more recent solo exhibitions, GloPop Art (South Dakota State University, 2014) and The Sum of All Color exhibition (Black Hills State University, 2018), highlight Miller’s abstract explorations with 3M Reflective Scotchlite vinyl. Both exhibitions equipped visitors with flashlights to view the art in darkened galleries.

Miller’s “REFLECTORAMA” installation at the Mobile Museum of Art surrounds viewers with the artist’s reflective artworks, viewable only with a flashlight, demonstrating the work’s powerful and creative use of light, optics, color and design.