The works of portrait artist Emily Hartman (above) and photographer Jacob Miller (below) are featured at a new exhibit at the Heyde Center. Photo: Andrea Paulseth

Whether you welcome the view or not, turning that sharp corner from December to January brings you to a dizzying annual scenic overlook. You may stop for a slow picnic, you may grab a few snaps and move on, but changing calendars is a cue to measure your life against years instead of packed workweeks, and self-reflection is in the air of January. The Heyde Center for the Arts’ monthly visual arts exhibition for January, Im|part|ial, pairs the work of two very distinct artists, offering very different takes on self-reflection. Emily Hartman makes challenging portraits charged with ideas of privacy and vulnerability. Jacob Miller creates simple photomontages evoking clarity and daily inspiration.

Im|part|ial has been curated for the Heyde Center by Ashley Voss, an energetic and capable local student preparing to complete her degree in arts management from UW-Stevens Point. Voss paired the two artists because of their different methods of exploring the individual self in relation to others and to the wider culture. As Voss says, “I’m excited about the contrasts of photography and text, more modernized forms vs. more traditional, raw charcoal contrasted with digital prints.” Voss has arranged time at the artists’ reception on Sunday, Jan. 12, from noon to 2pm to hear from the two artists on their methods and current work.

Certainly there are deep contrasts between the two collections of work. Miller’s images use very recent technologies to foster a virtual community of self-improvement. His very first inspirational images that led to the larger “Fragments” series exhibited here were made using the camera in his iPhone and posted to Instagram where thousands of followers could access them. By contrast, Hartman creates images using the fairly ancient tools of charcoal, paint, and ink, making single physical objects to be viewed one-on-one. But even more fundamental than distribution and medium is the aspect of the self that each discovers and presents, with Hartman occupying the messy and treacherous guts of human interaction, and Miller presenting a light-soaked mental plane.

Jacob Miller Photo: Shaunae Teske

Hartman is an artist deeply concerned with ideas of privacy and intimacy. For approximately eight years, Hartman has been working with human figures in primarily straightforward portrait poses while following after ideas of the divide between the individual’s interior and exterior life. There are 26 of her pieces in the show, ranging from small pen drawings to large acrylic paintings on canvas. Many of the finished pieces appear to be in various stages of completion, the brush technique in places is almost violent in its veiling and deconstruction of the human face. At times small elements of the compositions shoot forward with clarity about the sitter or the artist, but the overarching sense is an indeterminate searching or deliberate muddling of the understood fact of the face before you. According to Hartman, the physical portrait situation where the sitter and artist regard each other for long periods of time defines these works. She says, “It is intimate sitting in front of somebody, they feel awkward, I feel awkward, and the level of intimacy I’m able to share with that person changes the work.”

Miller began to take his encouraging images more seriously when thousands of people began to follow his Instagram feed, some sending him long letters of thanks explaining how his messages had helped them improve their lives. He has moved on from there, using more sophisticated camera equipment than his start-up iPhone and now hosts his postings on his own website. Miller writes that his main focus with his “Fragments” project is in “inspiring, helping and motivating others” and building relationships through broad communication. Miller’s 20 pieces in the show are 24”x36” prints on canvas and 12”x18” prints on paper. The images incorporate people, objects, and landscapes used to illustrate various states of mind or situations, often printed in an ethereal palette of color and tone. Some images include graphic elements as well as text to underscore their meaning. The easily accessible messages incorporated in the photographs serve Miller’s mission of widespread reach well. He is able to broadcast messages of encouragement and inspiration to a large audience. “We all face the same types of problems,” he says. “We all have similar fears. We all have experiences to share. There is inspiration everywhere to provide us with courage to pursue these fragments. To make us whole again.”

Im|part|ial, an exhibit of artwork by Emily Hartman and Jacob Miller •Jan. 7-29 • Heyde Center for the Arts, 3 S. High St., Chippewa Falls • 10am-5pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-4pm Fridays (gallery also open one hour before any scheduled evening performance) • www.cvca.net • (715) 726-9000