Mobile, AL — The Mobile Arts Council is pleased to announce the opening of Starprints, a compelling dual exhibition by local artists Valerie George and Micah Mermilliod. This thought-provoking show features photograms and lumen prints that explore transformation, transcendence, and our connection to both the body and the Earth through experimental photographic processes and organic materials.

Both George and Mermilliod are based in Mobile, Alabama, and are known for their diverse, multimedia approaches to art. While their methods differ, they share a deep conceptual alignment and passion for pushing the boundaries of traditional photography.

Valerie George is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans installation, performance, sound, video, sculpture, photography, drawing, and collaborative curation. Her practice reflects a holistic inquiry into art and life. Valerie earned her MFA from the University of California, Davis, where she studied under Lynn Hershman-Leeson and Mary Lucier. She is currently a fulltime Professor of Art at the University of West Florida, Arts Editor of Panhandler Magazine, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the 309 Punk Project, and a member of Good Children Gallery in New Orleans. She now lives and works in Mobile.

“Momma was a sunbather, a star gazer, a satellite chaser, a Moon lover, and believed we are all made of starstuff. Bearing witness to the Space Race and Moon landing, she was fascinated by all things space. Upon her death, she donated her body to science and, ultimately, to the art in this exhibition. The photograms on display are created using her ashes and my body to reconfigure our combined forms into celestial ghosts. This body of work is dedicated to the memory of Nelda Grace Brown and her imprint on all the lives she touched.” — Valerie George

Micah Mermilliod works across mediums, often incorporating collage in both material and concept. His art explores the ways humans adapt to an ever-changing world—technologically, environmentally, and socially. Much of his recent work reflects on the isolation of quarantine and the new normal that followed. Micah earned his MFA in Creative Technologies and Practice from the University of South Alabama in 2022. He is currently a curator at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile.

“These lumen print photographs serve as a reflection on the transformations that see the elements of all living things repurposed and reused in an ongoing cycle of life and death. Using flowers and other symbolic objects, these prints were made using the sun as mediary to affix the images to paper.” — Micah Mermilliod

Join us this June at the Mobile Arts Council Gallery @Room 1927 to celebrate this exhibition; free and open to the public.