DANBURY, CONN. — The Western Connecticut State University Department of Art will present a retrospective celebration spanning 40 years of creative works in sculpture and mixed media by New York artist J. Pindyck Miller, featured in an exhibition running from Oct. 8 through Dec. 6, 2015, at the university’s Visual and Performing Arts Center.

An opening reception for the show, “J. Pindyck Miller Decades, A Retrospective: Sculpture, Wall Reliefs and Works on Paper,” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, in the Art Gallery at the arts center on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. Registrations to attend the free reception may be made at the VPAC events Web page at www.wcsuvpac.eventbrite.com.

Miller also will discuss his work at two Art Gallery events during the exhibition, including a “Conversation with the Artist” forum from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, and an “Artist Talk” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. Admission will be free to all exhibition events and the public is invited to attend. Gallery hours for viewing of the exhibition will be from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Miller, who resides in Brewster, New York, has exhibited extensively at museums, academic institutions and galleries across the United States, participating in more than 30 solo and more than 50 group shows. Miller’s diverse creative work has been showcased in shows at the Gruenebaum Gallery, the Maxwell Davidson Gallery, the Rose Fried Gallery and other New York locations, as well as sites in Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois and California. Shows featuring Miller also have been staged at the Storm King Art Center and art galleries at many colleges including SUNY Albany, Vassar College, Keene State College and the University of New Hampshire. His works are held in museum and private collections including PepsiCo Corporation, E.I DuPont de Nemours and Co., and Middlebury College Museum of Art. Miller has worked as both practicing artist and museum preparator for Vassar College Art Gallery and Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center.

Miller’s work combines steel and aluminum, as well as personal symbols, to create pieces that fit together like a puzzle in works that have a substantial physical presence and display meticulous artistic craft in a quest to achieve precision, perfection and permanence. The use of abstract geometric forms in many of his works reflects the influences of early 20th century movements in the arts such as constructivism and De Stijl (The Style) as well as forms found in the natural world and in human constructions.

“Everything that I’ve seen, everything that I’ve imagined is raw material for my art,” Miller observed in artist notes posted on his website. “My focus is not on abstraction. What I’m about is reflecting reality and making things that become real in and of themselves. I want to try to understand seeing and language and meaning and knowledge, as if these things were imperfect, as indeed they are. Art is all search and invention and as with life itself, the things that are questions are always more compelling than the things that are known.”

The exhibition and show catalog are supported by a gift from Edelman Metalworks of Danbury.

“Miller brings a unique perspective to the Western community, helping us to fulfill the mission of the Visual and Performing Arts Center Art Gallery by presenting art exhibitions that enrich the community we serve,” WCSU Art Gallery Curator Melissa Ralston Jones noted. The gallery’s mission statement establishes the objective to invite audiences for its programs “to embrace new ideas and perspectives, and inspire a greater appreciation of art in all its forms.”

For more information, call the Department of Art at (203) 837-8403 or (203) 837-8889, or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.