Californian Mark Allen Miller conjures up everyday objects from his graphic grab bag, inventing newly interpreted readings from the likes of a spelling book for grown-ups. Be it for the New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, or Metropolis magazine, his illustrations almost never forego his signature pattern of diagonally checks.  Black silhouetted figures from long-gone eras traverse his designs, or they are content with nothing but neutral, white faces, mask-like surfaces.

Each of his visual ideas fascinates the eye like a surreal instruction manual for the home – from how to play a musical instrument to how to sort toys from office supplies.

Naturally without any text, he draws us in with a kind of visual acrobatics between lighthearted symbols and loosely designated surfaces. Even his color palette largely foregoes signal colors; it is reduced to pastel-colored patterns. Detached from the magazine’s actual storyline, they are minimalist, full of poetry and graphic expression. Before fanciful ideas are pinned down with the stamp of verbal specificity, the images can float here on the surface in harmonious vision.

Christina Wendenburg