Student Questions

What's your main inspiration?

I guess my main inspiration is the people I paint. My main body of work are paintings are predominately males from a range of ages. You get to form a relationship with your subject by meeting them but also through the process of paint.

What do you love most about working with oils?

I think the reason I am drawn to painting with oils is the flexibility it has. It allows me to build the painting up with layer and layers of paint. It also allows the opportunity for me to make adjustments due to the paint staying wet.

Who is the one artist who inspires you the most?

The first artist that I drew inspiration from was Otto Dix (1891-1925). His works were created during the time of the first world war which often depicted the brutality of war. I was amazed by the art and the story it told. I have always been drawn to art that has undertones of sorrow and despair. (See painting left)

Current artists that I draw inspiration from is Guy Denning, Ryan Hewett, Andrew Salgado, Jenny Seville. I look at everything from pose, colour, composition, paint applications. I look to take elements of many artists to develop my own unique style. All artist art inspired by others, the key is to take what you like from each artist and merge it into something new and uniquely you. Although this is easier said than done. There will be a lot of fail paintings as you look to develop your style but you learn more from a failed work than the pieces that succeed. So be aware that all artist to succeed most embrace failure.

Why did you decide to focus your practice on men mental health?

I grew up with a family member that battled mental health and addiction. When I was young the discussion of mental health didn't exist. It was an age where men were to toughen up and bottle your emotions inside which resorted to many men self-medicating themselves through the use of drugs and alcohol. there is a global epidemic where anxiety and depression are ruining lives. Now with to young children of my own, I want to play my small part in spreading the awareness through painting. The way I represent mental health is to strip back my subject to the person they removed of all emotion.

How has social media helped your art career?

The best way to answer how social media affected my art career is the break it down into 2 parts. The Positives of social media and the negatives that all must be aware of.

Let's start with the positive. Social media has allowed my art to be exposed to millions of people throughout the world. In previous years the success of an art career has been heavily reliant on galleries. I feel the although galleries play an important role in the career of an artist, the opportunity to forge a career without them is a huge positive. There have been many time in my career to date where I have been rejected by galleries. This hasn't deterred me to paint only to look at other ways to develop business.

When scratching the surface of social media you will find a huge network of practices artists. not only is the platform great for making new connections it also allows emerging artists to find inspiration from others. there have been many artists that I have studied in regards to their art practice.

10 Artists to follow on Instagram:

• Guy Denning

• Robin Eley

• Henrik Uluderen

• Andrew Salgado

• Jenny Seville

• Connor Harrington

• Lisa King

• Donovan Christie

• Ellie Kammer

• Ryan Hewitt

In one sentence what advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Don't be afraid to fail, you will never reach your full potential without taking risks.

Describe your art in one word. Lost

How do you pick your colours?

The simple answer is that I always try to place contrasting colour against each other. I think it brings a contemporary feel to my work and it also hides any colour value issues.

Why did you become an artist?

I became an artist as I was getting enough creativity out of being a designer. It's a way to express myself and gives me a platform to promote things that mean something to me.

How do you become a successful artist?

For a very rare few success come overnight, for others including myself it takes many years of beating on your craft. It will come with many highs but just as many lows. You will begin to understand that rejection is a major component of an artists career. Have a business model in plan and alway update and adjust as opportunities and setback come your way. One of my biggest downfalls that I am still trying to overcome is change. Change can be one of the hardest parts of life, to ensure that you will continue to remain successful in an ultra-competitive world is to embrace change. Finally, don't just make yourself an artist, like any successful business model, make yourself a brand.

Did you study art?

I didn't study art at university I chose another creative path in Graphic design. When deciding on my future I didn't believe there was an industry for visual artists. I believed that you had to be dead to make money. Since then I have seen that there is an industry for artists that not only have talent but the will power and drive to succeed in an industry that can be very difficult to break into. Like al creative industries I feel that talent alone will not determine if you will be successful in this industry.

What was your most memorable piece?

I wasn't aware it would be my most memorable piece until several weeks after completion. I had just finished a portrait of my father (fight back). At this point, I had a great relationship with my father and was a recovering alcohol after spending several years in rehab. The piece was announced as a finalised in one of Australia premier portraiture prizes. Unfortunately, once it was announced as a finalist with this piece my father died. So the piece not only helped springboard my career as an artist it was one of the final things that my father and I shared together.

Has the news ever influenced my work?

I guess the increase in awareness of mental health over the past decade has seen it become a large part of my artistic career. We are in the middle of an epidemic of mental illness and suicide of young males in Australia and across the globe. It is the leading cause of death of young males and there is no end in sight. I try not to go too deep and political with my works as I want the viewing to look and take there own journey with my works. I also want to ensure that my works can be appreciated for what they are as well as the meaning behind the works.

How would you describe your work? Contemporary portraiture

What was happening at the time in your life, country or society that influenced your work.

My works have always been focused on mens mental health. The works were first influenced by my father who battle depression and alcohol addiction. When he was out in public or around family and friends he would always put on a happy face never letting his guard down hiding what was going on deep inside. When he was alone, which was most of the time he would struggle to do the very basics in life. I grew up with this being a normal way of living.

The faces in my paintings are emotionless never showing happiness or sadness. Mental Health a decade ago was still very much a taboo topic. We now live in a world where we have more anxiety and depression than ever before but at least we can talk about it without the fear of persecution. As a past footballer hearing professional players coming out and discussing mental health I felt was a big turning point in society. With football being a manly mans sport, the fact that they are talking about mental health makes me feel we are on the right track.

Has there been any personal experience(s) that you have translated into your own work?

I think the personal connection in my works is the time I spent with my subjects during the development of the artworks. Many of the people I paint I don’t know but I form a bond with them as I paint their portrait.

How has this/these personal experience(s) impacted your technique?

My style has been brought about by the time I have to paint and the facilities available to me. I moved to pallet knives as my studio didn’t have a sink and I couldn’t wash the brushes. I tend to lose interest very easily when painting, however, when using pallet knives the is no room for making adjustments due to the texture which pushes me to complete the painting in a certain timeframe.

Is there an explanation of why you choose to use a large scale for your artworks?

Using pallet knives small details are often difficult to produce due to the amount of paint being applied to the canvas. The larger-scale allows me to create more intricate artworks. There is a balance to this as I need to ensure I don’t go to small or large with a piece. So although my works are large it's due to the limitations of my art style.

Does your use of oil paint link to any influence from historical/contemporary expressionist artists?

I have looked at Monet as well as Andy Warhol of late. I always look at artists from the past for inspiration, this could be size, colour, pose, or paint application. I never look to take too much influence from one artist rather infusing a range of things from many artists. Almost everything has been done before by artists in the past so developing your unique style is incredibly difficult.

What (techniques, colours, mediums, etc) do you think builds an emotional artwork?

I think the thickly applied paint is the biggest thing that draws the emotion into my paintings. It is also the photos I take of the subject. I always get the subject to have a blank face removing all emotion. The lack of expression allows the viewer to use their own emotions that they apply to the painting when they are viewing the piece.

What is one thing that you do to guarantee that your artworks have an emotional connection?

I think for every viewer it is something different. For me, it's the time that someone spends on their own when no one is looking. When they see themselves in the mirror their facial expressions expose their happiness, sadness, anxiety, pride, or numbness. My paintings do not tell the viewer how to feel rather the emotions that the viewer is feeling at that time are reflected back through the painting.

With reference to the Man in the mirror piece, did the colors you use have any significance or contextual meaning? If yes, kindly elaborate.

The man in the mirror is a self portrait. The coloured background dictates what colour the rest of the painting will be. Although I hadn’t considered it before much of my identity is intertwined in my playing days as a footballer. I play 15years for the CBC Dolphins and the main colour for this side was purple.

Finally, what motivates you? In other words, what drives you to create such pieces? What function and purpose do you intend for your artwork(s) to have?

I guess for me it's an opportunity to express myself. It works as a break from my own reality. Life is so busy and the pressures of life can be overwhelming and painting for me is an opportunity to leave all of this to the side. I do have times where those external pressures follow me into the studio and the spills out onto the canvas. So how I am feeling in my life at that time is emerged into my pieces. Art is apart of my identity, it is large part of what makes me, me. Although it does increase my stress and anxiety due to the pressures I place on myself, I would be lost without it.

Interview with Kathryn Carter

‘When I discover who I am,’ American novelist Ralph Ellison once wrote, ‘I’ll be free’. Such awareness may, at birth, be innate. But in the context of cultures that encrypt our own stories, the knowledge of your nature often requires relentless inquisition—a style of self-inquiry made unnecessarily complex by the pressure to conform to seemingly endless societal expectation. The self, it would seem, is no longer, if it ever was, a simple thing to be. To pretend, in the world we live in, often more practical than to be the pure you. In the presence of art, however, we find freedom to feel into the parts of ourselves that have been filtered. In the shadow of paintings, we experience the stillness we need to shed the veils that obscure the core of our being.

A portrait painted by Joshua Miels is never just a picture. It is a catalyst for an inquisition that calls for the dissolving of masks subconsciously made in the pursuit of societal—as opposed to self—acceptance. Born and raised in South Australia, the contemporary portrait artist produces pieces that strip back the personas presented by his subjects, capturing the vulnerabilities and emotions that have been hidden for the sake of seeming to be a certain kind of person in a particular kind of way. Painted predominantly in oils, each piece begins with one person and ends with stories told by the observer, tales that take them not into the subject, but back into themselves.

Shattering the veneers we spend lifetimes carefully-crafting, Miels extracts the essences of his subjects in his multi-layered oils, presenting us with portraits that challenge us to carve into the culturally-constructed guises that smother the core self. ‘What and how much had I lost?’ Ellison once questioned, ‘by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?’ When we stand with a work of art by Miels, questions such as these inevitably arise in a way that feels deeply necessary. By facing what we may have lost, we grant ourselves permission to pursue what must be found. To look within is to know, and to know oneself is to be free.

KATHRYN CARTER: Can you remember the first time you picked up a paintbrush?

JOSHUA MIELS: The first time I remember painting having a significant meaning in my life was in high school, in grade 10, when I painted my first portrait in oils. I remember the rush of creating something unique. It wasn’t the greatest painting, in fact it was quite average, but it developed a hunger inside of me to get better. Painting was an opportunity to escape the world around me, and to get lost in the creative challenges that every brushstroke presented.

Did you always, from those first experiences with oils onwards, have a feeling you’d end up an artist?

I actually never thought I’d become an artist. I grew up with the misconception that you could only earn money as an artist when you were dead, this mindset threw me onto another creative path working as a graphic designer. After graduating from high school, it took me 7 years to finally bring out the oil paints again.

And when you reconnected with painting did you study visual arts at university, or did you learn by following your own intuition?

I studied visual communications (graphic design) at university which helped me to develop the way I approach my art, but my style has been developed by teaching myself. I first drew my inspiration from many great artists, initially trying to replicate their styles to unlock their secrets. I learnt something from every artist that I studied, and I then used those lessons to create a style of art that was unique to me.

You’ve certainly mastered your own aesthetic, a piece by you is definitely identifiable by style alone. Now that you have such a strong artistic voice, is there anything that you are trying to say with your painting?

To be honest, I’m not trying to say anything specifically to any person. I really want my works to resonate with the inner thoughts of the viewer. Over the years my exhibition works have often explored men’s mental health. I grew up with a father that struggled with addiction and mental illness, and it’s this exposure [to issues of mental illness] that shaped the person that I am today. Unfortunately, my story is all too common. So many families have had to deal with addiction, anxiety and depression.

It’s heartbreaking, but you’re right, it’s so true. Your willingness to explore that unfiltered human reality has clearly shaped your work over time, with many describing you as a contemporary portrait artist who looks to capture the vulnerability of people and the emotions that people try to hide from others. What first fuelled your desire to reveal the more secretive aspects of your subjects?

My interest in this subject matter was brought about by trying to make sense of the childhood that I grew up in. My father suffered mental health and addiction for as long as I knew him. He was extremely good at changing his persona when out in public, but as soon as he was behind closed doors the life in his face disappeared. Working with this subject matter I realised that we all portray who we want to be when we’re with others but when we’re alone, for many, that [constructed] identity shifts to who we really are. No one should feel ashamed of who they are. There are times in which we need to shift our identities, whether it be at work, or with family and friends. However, if one completely removes or hides who they are, a person can never be truly happy.

I agree, it’s almost a sacrifice of self in the name of acceptance, which could be described as a betrayal at almost a soul level. Even so, as you’ve mentioned, we do live in a time where many must wear metaphoric masks so as to go on living, whether hiding a part of themselves for the purpose of fitting in, or because they risk condemnation—cultural, familial, political—in revealing who they truly are. Given this reality, how do you work to peel away the personas your subjects may have artfully created for themselves?

We all carry [and wear] masks subconsciously, without even realising it. These masks are often needed for acceptance by particular groups we may be associated with at any given time, but our true identity can be vastly different from the identity that we portray to others. In society, we all strive for love and acceptance and will go to great lengths to attain this. For this reason, people hide their sexuality, religion, race, personality to fit the mold that society tells us to be.

In my works, I look to paint the face vacant of emotion. Not a happy face or a sad face, just a face. We often don’t take time to see a face without emotion. When the face is stripped of emotion it allows the person to be seen for who they are. There is beauty in all faces brave enough to be a subject in one of my paintings. With every subject that I paint, I can feel the vulnerability of them as they step in front of the camera. I too feel vulnerable when taking these shots as it’s a very personal thing to be trusted in painting someone’s face.

Do you feel a part of your role as an artist is to allow people an artistic environment where their true selves can be seen more safely, without the fear of judgement?

I certainly want people to be more accepting of one another’s differences. We are all individuals, and this must be celebrated. Yet when we allow people to see us for who we truly are, we sometimes open ourselves up to exclusion and persecution. It’s this fear of not being accepted [by others] that drives people to continue to wear the masks they do in their daily lives.

You can often sense that others are somehow veiling themselves. To do so over extended periods of time is what often leads to inner disconnection with the core of who we are. Do you feel the desire to be seen as a cookie cutout of a perfect person—such as a social media influencer—is what drives us to (often subconsciously) hide who we really (imperfectly) are?

Social media, and the general media, continues to show you where your life is deficient; it reminds you that you may not have the perfect family, house, car, job, face or body. It’s our exposure to these mediums that I believe risks the continuation and increase of mental health issues and low self-esteem in future generations.

But if we can promote a greater acceptance of difference, we will allow people to be happier and more confident, and at ease with showing people who they truly are.

Further to the point of showing who we are. Portraiture has existed in the West since ancient times, with many famous pieces created during the Renaissance. During these periods in history, to paint (sculpt or draw) somebody was the only way of recording a person’s appearance. Since the advent of photography, the art has become less prominent. What role do you feel portraiture plays within the fabric of contemporary society?

I think photography has completely oversaturated our minds, whereby the importance of those moments captured feels far less [apparent]. I have a son and daughter and since the days they were born their lives have been documented through thousands of photos. When I was a boy, conversely, there were maybe fifty photos taken of me in my first ten years of life. Each photo is a memory and a moment in time. I think that portraiture may be [now] where photography was twenty years ago, it seems to [more consciously] capture the moments in time that photography now [often] fails to do.

In his book Thérèse Raquin, French novelist Émile Zola writes: ‘They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.’ Do you think a part of your process could be described as peering into the natures of others?

I want my works not to be peering into the natures of others, but peering into the nature of the viewer. The works project a reflection of the viewer back onto themselves. The face may be different, but the feelings are the same. If a person looks to search for the why within my works, they will find themselves questioning themselves on who they are and what they might be holding back due to the fear of not being accepted.

For a painting to prompt this level of self-inquiry is such an essential thing, arguably now more than ever. Speaking of questions and inquisition, how has embracing the process of experimentalism allowed you to grow as an artist?

I’ve never been completely satisfied with the art that I produce. Experimenting, for me, delivers a great sense of excitement, one which is born through the risk of failure. When it doesn’t work out it is disappointing, yet I learn so much from every failure, and I use these learnings as the springboards for my next ideas. When an experiment pays off, I feel a great joy and excitement, even if the resulting painting isn’t as well received as some of my more iconic work. Experimenting is, for me, like my own personal journal. The works created by the process of experimentation are therefore, in a way, more personal.

Given you continue to develop your technique via the thrill of trial and error, what tools would we find scattered around your studio, in terms of brushes, palette knives, etc.?

In my studio you will find a range of palette knives, some cheap and nasty brushes, and hundreds of tubes of oil paint—the usual. Some of the more unique tools you’ll find are: business cards I use to paint with, milk crates I used as my easel, and an old window that I use as my palette. You’ll also find venetian blinds; I use these to scrape paint to create the backgrounds for my pieces.

Love that, the tools of the painting trade are never standard. I know that you work mostly with oil paints, but do you ever experiment with any other mediums?

Oil paint was the medium that I used in high school, and from the moment I first used it I was addicted to its flexibility. To be honest no, I don’t work with a lot of other mediums. Most of what I’ve learnt through experimentation has come from what I can do with oil paint.

The experimentation at the root of your practice seems symbolic of your own evolution as an artist, a journey that has required the recognition of emotions both in yourself and others. That can’t have always been easy, given we exist in a world that has mostly taught us—directly and obliquely—to “stay strong” and to perpetually “hold our heads high”, regardless of how we may feel inside. Your work, conversely, exposes and allows for the vulnerability within your subjects to not only hold space, but to strangely thrive, as though protected from the harshness of the real world within the painting’s oil veneer. Why is shining light on this part of the self so important to you, not only as an artist, but also as an individual?

I have to believe, regardless of the adversity I face, that I can get through this. I have had my own mental health battles in which I had to question whether or not I could continue to practice art. At one time I was overcome by fear that, at its extreme, was paralysing to me, where for several months I was unable to paint. Not wanting to live by my fear, or succumb to it, I knew I had to continue even though at times it was extremely uncomfortable to do so. We will all go through adversity and when it hits it can be devastating, but we must not give up on ourselves.

Your strength is inspiring, and one that has clearly kept you on your path both personally and artistically. Speaking of the path of the artist, today individuals who study visual arts are sometimes encouraged to pursue specialties in the digital realms—to increase the likelihood of finding work in an ever-digitised world. What would you say to someone who truly wants to work with more traditional mediums, but who might be too nervous to pursue an “old school” craft?

I think that there will always be a market for fine arts, but it is a hard profession to break into. I think it’s important not just for an artist but for anyone in the world in which we live to have a range of skill sets. For myself, I’m also a graphic designer who specialises in designing supermarket products, and I’m also currently studying to be a teacher. Having these additional income streams allows you to take artistic risks without risking not eating for the next month if those risks do not pay off. This is not something many artists want to hear, but for me this approach has proven successful, and it allows me to pick and choose the jobs that I take on.

Compromise is something a lot of artists have to become at peace with, I think, but it’s worth it in the end. I’m curious to know one final thing. If you could commission one artist—living or deceased—to paint your portrait, who would that artist be?

I think if I could have any artist paint a portrait of me it would be Jenny Saville, Her artworks have always been a driving force in my own artistic practice.

https://mrmens.melbourne/2020/08/13/on-extracting-the-essence-in-oil/