Jay Miriam’s paintings of everyday people, in everyday situations, explore the tension between faithful representation from memory and the transformative act of painting. In Miriam’s third solo exhibition at Ornis A. Gallery, “Fantasies in a Waking State”, Miriam presents a secret theater of long-known and sometimes willingly-ignored questions: What is consciousness? How is it possible? Is it a figment of the imagination, a way to define and rationalize our relationships, or a sense of self and selflessness? In this latest work, Miriam approaches our constant companion, the mind-body problem, and its pleasures, distresses, and desires, and finds the ordinary ego that associates purpose with the wonderful tapestry of evolution.

Born in New York City, Miriam received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and is currently in the Master’s program at the New York Academy of Art. She has been the subject of solo exhibitions including Catch the Heavenly Bodies, Half Gallery, New York, NY (2016); Blue Paintings of Women, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2014); Youth and Beauty Parade, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2013), and JM, Cudowne Lata, Krakow, Poland (2011). Recent group exhibitions include: Bicoastal, Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC (2017); New York Nowhere, Olsen Gruin Galley, Sydney, Australia (2017); Beyond the Gaze: Women Painting Women, Garis & Hahn, New York, NY (2016); and Mute, Galerie COA, Montréal, Canada (2015).

Miriam lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

The opening is kindly sponsored by Warsteiner