Maryland artist says autism positively influences her work

From WJZ-TV in Baltimore:

PARKTON, Md. ― Katie Miller is an exceptional artist and award winner who says her autism is a positive influence on her work.

Ron Matz reports the Maryland Institute College of Art graduate is about to head to one of the world's biggest stages.

From the provocative to the innocent to the vulnerable, these are the people and faces of Baltimore artist Katie Miller.

"The majority of my artwork is about the relationship between the mundane and the surreal, and how it relates to changing contemporary notions of childhood," Miller said. "I'm interested in things that look like they may be scenes from every day, but when taken out of context they seem very odd or abnormal."

She is active in the autistic rights movement.

"Most of us are quite happy the way we are. We don't want to be cured. We're offended a lot by a lot of the media portrayals of autism as devastating and tragic and needing to be fixed because we are people the way we are," said Miller.

Katie was just named a winner of the Wynn Newhouse Award for artists with disabilities. Next month her "Child Standing on a Dresser" will be part of the prestigious VSA Armory Show in New York.

In 2006, Katie studied in Italy and then she graduated with honors from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

She's an extraordinary artist who sees her autism as a gift.

"I think of autism as a gift because it gives me an excellent attention to detail. I'm able to stay in my studio for really long periods and not notice anything else. I'm very sensitive to color, to detail, to line and shape and that really helps my art," she said.

The Armory Show in New York will be March 5-8. More than 50,000 people are expected.