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Swiggett Miller: Uncovering a Masked Talent A trip to Burning Man ignites a firestorm of self-expression.

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Swiggett Miller: Uncovering a Masked TalentA trip to Burning Man ignites a firestorm of self-expression.

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I feel as if I have been on an incredible journey the past eight months of my life.  During that time, I have made more that 50 works of art in leather, mostly masks, all original and all one-of-a-kind.  I have been in an art show, had seven pieces featured in a Terrence Malick film, won ‘first place mask’ in the first masquerade ball I’ve ever been to, and done six photo shoots, the latest of which was at the Playboy Mansion.  I say all of this not with arrogance but with a smile of wonder in my heart: How is it that I have come to this place, me with no art background, no training—and, admittedly, no great appreciation of art until just a few short months ago?

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There are many places to which I could point when looking for the catalyst of my journey into the art world.  Yet I would have to say the most obvious was my first trip to Burning Man last year.  I could write a whole article just on that, but the main thing that’s relevant is how I was blown away by the art there. And more than that, it was the realization that so many people put so much effort into their art with no financial gain. It was all done purely out of love and for the purpose self-expression.  When I left my first Burning Man, I wasn’t inspired to do art, but I was inspired.

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A little more than a month later, in the beginning of October, I was receiving a bunch of deep energy work from a good friend.  I kept telling her that there was this green dragon flying around in my awareness.  I didn’t really have any desire to look for the deeper meaning in this, but I did feel it was significant and the images stuck with me.  A little while later, I was thinking about Halloween and thought, why not bring this dragon into reality?  Then I thought maybe I should just make a green dragon mask, for I thought a mask would capture the essence of that magnificent creature.  So I did.

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Actually, that first mask was made with plaster over a wire and gauze frame, but I had so much fun with it that I decided I wanted to make others. In my searches on the Internet for pictures of green dragon masks, I came upon a leather one that caught my fancy.  Three months went by with this stewing somewhere in the back of my brain. Then, in January, I heard of a ‘Unicorn Party’, and I knew that it was time.

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I started my first leather mask with a little apprehension, and in the beginning, what I was looking at in my hands was pretty disappointing to me. But something told me to keep going and soon enough I fashioned his nose just like I wanted, then his mane and horn came into being, and then, to really bring him to life, I added his eyes and ears. When I had finished the leather part I thought, wow, I might be on to something. Then he got his first coat of paint, and it was set. I couldn’t really believe I had created this. I was so in love with him—more than that, I was so in love with the process of creation. It completely fascinated me that this lovely creature had been born through my hands, through my own creation.

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I started my first leather mask with a little apprehension, and in the beginning, what I was looking at in my hands was pretty disappointing to me.  But something told me to keep going and soon enough I fashioned his nose just like I wanted, then his mane and horn came into being, and then, to really bring him to life, I added his eyes and ears.  When I had finished the leather part I thought, wow, I might be on to something.  Then he got his first coat of paint, and it was set.  I couldn’t really believe I had created this. I was so in love with him—more than that, I was so in love with the process of creation.  It completely fascinated me that this lovely creature had been born through my hands, through my own creation.  

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Eight months later that wonder and love has grown. Now I am happy calling myself an artist and I see the world through different eyes.  However, as much as I love the act of creation, I have come to see a deeper calling in all of this for me and as much as I want to share my art with the world, what I want more is to share my inspiration with people. Even more than that, I want to help people wake up to their own inspiration, to their own gifts.  I would say that I have a great gift and a fair amount of talent, but I would also say that I am nothing special, that we all have our own gifts and talents, yours just as great as mine.  All I ask as you look over my works is for you to also look inside yourself. What dreams are lying there waiting to make the world just a little more beautiful?

Isn’t it time to wake them up?

Besides being an artist, Swig Miller is also a Rolf practitioner. When not working, he enjoys writing, rock climbing, yoga and tango. Find out more about Swig’s work at Los Angeles Masks and Los Angeles Rolfing Center.