MIRIAM L. PREISSEL
Biography
Miriam Preissel's passion for imagery began with the purchase of a Cannon FT 35mm camera for $125 at a garage sale when she was 18. She was poised at this time to take a possibly disastrous path, after spending her teens in a foster home and dropping out of high school. One of her most impressionable memories is of working in a neighborhood blue-collar gin mill while her bosses �took book� in a wooden phone booth inside the bar. When two of the customers were arrested for multiple murders, Miriam knew it was time to move on.
Earning her GED and entering community college, she discovered the camera. She began taking documentary photographs and began to learn more about the technical and artistic elements of photography. At Central Connecticut State College, a friend and fine art painter taught her the basics of composition. Her documentary work and style improved. However, the blue-collar world at this time influenced her against taking academic art seriously.
Eventually Miriam moved to Dallas, TX and was accepted into the Broadcast/Film Department at Southern Methodist University. This arena allowed her to develop her photographic skills and prepare for a career in editing. After earning her B.F.A. she moved to Hollywood and began shooting production stills on features. She quickly began co-producing, production managing, writing and editing.
Miriam has to her credit various TV shows, animation, independent films and promos for Dreamworks, Disney/ABC and Paramount among others all the while longing to devote more time to her own art. Her appreciation of other artist�s ability for self-expression and the beauty of the work influenced her drive to want to be a part of that. She began showing her work in Los Angeles galleries in 2000.
Miriam�s current work, �Men in Tutus�, is a stereotype-smashing examination of masculinity and femininity. In this work, traditional gender roles are reversed and played against the backdrop of archetypal ballet conceptions. She is now represented by The FlazhAlley Studio in San Pedro, CA and has opened her own gallery on the east coast, in Provincetown, MA, a seaside art colony on the tip of Cape Cod.
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