Terry Miura

“I’m interested in understanding the language of landscape painting, so that I can use it to explore the mysteries of emotions, memories, and identity.” To that end, Miura does not limit himself to painting traditional landscapes. “I’m looking for subtle emotional responses, “ he explains. “not just from trees and rivers, but buildings, people, atmosphere, light… any subject can trigger an emotional response. I’m perpetually trying to figure out what that trigger is.”

In recent years his pursuit has found expression in abstraction; “I start with the literal and the logical, but then I let intuition take over. It’s always a precarious balance between a logical representation of the visual world, and a visceral response to the abstract quality of the paint itself. Too much logic and it remains predictable and boring. Too much abstraction and it devolves into sloppy chaos. Poetry exists in the balance.” In California, Miura is represented by The Christopher Hill Gallery in St. Helena and Healdsburg, Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, Sekula’s Fine Art in Sacramento, and Holton Studio Gallery in Berkeley. On the East Coast he is represented by Sloane Merrill Gallery in Boston. His paintings are found in private and public collections, including pieces in the permanent collection at the Crocker Art Museum, California Museum of Fine Art, and the Smithsonian Institute.