Capturing the Rapture: Julie Ann Miller, Opening March 8

Being a grownup isn’t easy. Long gone are the days of toys, tricycles, and tea parties, and here to stay are taxes, telecommuting, and therapy sessions. There’s also “anxiety, missed communications, and the evolving landscape of human identity,” quips Julie Ann Miller, an Asheville-based painter and picture framer at BlackBird Frame & Art. This March, Miller will depart from her usual duties at the Merrimon Avenue mainstay to present Capturing the Rapture. According to a press release, paintings in the solo showcase are a “visceral response to the continuous chaos and escape of adulthood” and a “vivid exploration of both personal and universal experiences.” Viewers can expect everything from “haunting portraits” to “whimsical landscapes,” each of which juxtaposes the transcendence of being a living, breathing creature on a thirteen-septillion-pound rock flying through space with the tedium of doing laundry, paying bills, and taking the dog out to tinkle. As the gallery explains, Miller’s work is a “self-sustaining dialogue with being human in this world.”