Darren Lee Miller, Dancing Alone, Archival Inkjet Print, 30″ x 40″, 2013

We tell the same stories over and over, repurposing the players to create new meaning but often the older associations remain close to the surface. Taking my cues from the metaphors seen in ancient mythology, renaissance painting, and contemporary photography, I undermine the power dynamics and roles that exist within depicted relationships to remind the viewer of familiar stories, but also to challenge expected meaning.

Darren Lee Miller, Expectations, Archival Inkjet Print, 40″ x 30″, 2014

For the past two summers, I have been the artist-­in-­residence at the Baldwin Reynolds House Museum in Meadville, PA. I’ve used my nearly unrestricted access to the house to reflect upon the historical functions and rituals that occurred in the various rooms and grounds, and to document the performative interventions that I staged there. I queered the spaces and continued my explorations of hidden desire and fantasy while creating magical-­realist narrative moments for the camera.

Darren Lee Miller, The Awkward Roommate, Archival Inkjet Print, 40″ x 30″, 2014

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Darren Lee Miller has spent the last few years building a curatorial practice, but here at TLB we have always known him as an amazing photographer. His constructed images weave together an interest in performance with environment that appear cinematic in their staging. It was wonderful to visit him last fall and see the beginnings of the “Retold” series and we are really excited to see how the project has progressed.

Darren Lee Miller, Inspection, Archival Inkjet Print, 30″ x 40″, 2014