Artist bio

Biography Cody F. Miller is a mixed media artist who resides in Columbus, Ohio. He works with magazine collage, acrylic paint, and charcoal. The patterns and odd configurations he stumbles upon are an integral part of conveying the endless layers of humanity. An old 1885 second grade reader or letters from a father to his son during World War II are collected and stored for the next piece. The Scriptures, the writings of Thomas Merton and the music of Tom Waits are all important influences in Cody’s work. They are ingredients in creating, as Ben Myers says, a “horizon of this dark world where we glimpse the startling first glow of dawn, the surprising appearance of grace ‘out of the depths’ (Psalm 130:1).” Metaphors, analogies, and other related devices are used to convey beauty that often comes disguised as a loss, failure, or unwelcome change. Cody F. Miller’s work has been shown in numerous exhibits, such as “Havana/ConnectArt” in Matanzas, Cuba, “The Best of 2019” at the Ohio Craft Museum and the Springfield Museum, Solo Exhibition, “Sojourners,” at the Hayley Gallery in New Albany, Ohio, “In Close Proximity” at the Cultural Arts Center, “From the Familiar to the Unfamiliar” at the Ohio Art League, “Glory Be” at the Johnson Humrickhouse Museum and “Annual Acquisitions” at the Viewpoint Gallery in Schenectady, New York. He is represented by the Hudson Sharon Weiss Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. Miller received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2002, 2018 and 2025, the Collector’s Award for Excellence at the Ohio Craft Museum’s “The Best of 2019,” Juror’s Choice 2D Award at the 2018 Columbus Arts Festival, Best of Show in 2001 and 2012 at the Westerville Arts Festival. In 2023 his work was part of the Arts Beacon of Light"at the the Riffe Gallery in Columbus,Ohio. in 2024 Cody had a piece in the Cuban Biennial. Cody was the art instructor at United Cerebral Palsy for 16 years and the resident artist at the Goodwill Art Studio for 11 years.

Title

The Kingdom of God II

Medium/Genre

Mixed Media

Artist Statement

The overarching question with my work is, “how do we get home?” The word 'home' means something different for each of us. For many, it literally means a safe dwelling place. A recent study revealed that over 70 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. They are internally displaced people, refugees and asylum-seekers. For others, it’s finding a place where we can be seen while also seeing the needs of the community where we have made common cause. Friendships with deep roots help a community feel like home.

I work with cut paper, paint, and some printmaking techniques. My work primarily shows animals and people helping each other on the next leg of their journey. The animals and their scale are often metaphors for unexpected kindness bestowed upon us. “The Quiet Ones IV” depicts a woman holding out her hands in hope that the fox will share his fish. It’s inspired by this quote:

“. . for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” 
― George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Middlemarch

This body of work explores beautiful acts of kindness that simultaneously happen alongside tragic events, yet these quiet acts are rarely recorded. I believe they are what holds the world together.

How it fits into contest

In His name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:21)

In “The Clown in the Belfry,” Frederick Buechner writes:

“If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.”

Credits

No

How to Purchase this Artwork

$35 for a 13 x 17 inch signed reproduction which can be purchased through my website.

Other Goods & Services Available from this Artist

On my website a customer can purchase original artwork, Limited Edition signed reproductions, and licensing rights.

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