John Miller engages in wry sociological investigations of American culture and consumerism. Known for his signature 1980s assemblages encrusted in brown impasto, in 2008 Miller began entombing objects like severed heads, toy guns, and crabs in imitation gold leaf, creating objects that at first seduce the viewer with shimmering surfaces but ultimately present a quasi-apocalyptic vision of everyday life. In a 2012 exhibition “Suburban Past Time,” Miller transformed a gallery into a bizarre public space, using wallpaper, carpet, filing cabinets, and fake “natural” objects used to hide pool pumps in suburban backyards.