In His Own Words

The Straight Line

“I know that when I was twelve or thirteen, I was aware of the straight line that goes clear across a picture. A straight line that is part of a picture organizes all the rest of the picture. And that straight line comes to a climax with other straight lines all over the surface of that picture. And it stops by coming to a cross angle right at the edge of the picture, right on the frame, right on the frame, so that your space is completely realized to start with. And then what you do with it after that, that’s part of what is already established. So that the straight line is not only composed in terms of the immediate pattern of the drawing itself, but any extension of that drawing consistently would be the same organization.

“You take a straight line and you find out that that straight line comes to a climax with…how many straight lines? One, two, three, four straight lines…outside of the picture? All of these are part of the straight line structure of the picture.”

— Edgar Miller, c. 1991