60 Artists Magazine January/February 2020
and drive 10 hours to Grandma’s
house.” The painting had transported
him back to that time and place. He
wasn’t looking at a painting; he was
reliving his childhood.
For Miura, this was a triumph. “It
was powerful that my painting was
able to trigger that memory for this
man,” he says. Miura avoids obvious
narratives in his pieces because hefinds that they limit what a painting
can be for the viewer. “I don’t want
to force a story upon the viewer,”
he says. “I want the viewer to find
his own narrative in the context of
his own memories and experiences.”Risking Ruin
Rather than striving to create a slick
end product, Miura leaves some ofthe process and the struggle visible
in his paintings. Because of this, his
work has become more abstract over
the years. He points to the authen-
ticity and honesty of an artist’s
sketches, which he describes as
a record of the process and a testa-
ment to the journey of the piece.
“You can see an artist thinking in
a sketch,” he says, “and I want to