SCRIPTORIUM 16B

Scriptorium 16B is a collection of ink and paper works, tattoo flash, homegrown botanicals, and folk crafts by Soup Studio resident Layne Miller. The exhibition, on view October 24th - November 5th, includes a series of esoteric dotwork illustrations, gilded altar pieces, and hand-bound, bottled, and pressed plant specimens. Please join us for our event schedule.

In use from late antiquity to the Renaissance, scriptoria (from Late Latin "place for writing," from root *skribh-Proto-Indo-European meaning "to cut, separate, sift”) were small rooms often attached to monasteries where information was recorded on scrolls and manuscripts made of animal skins. Since ancient times, monks and scribes carefully illuminated pages with gold leaf and highly detailed decorative images. At their essence, scriptoria were sanctuary temples of information; they were repositories of ancient classics, treatises on mathematics, botanical guides, alchemical codices, and knowledge both religious, secular, and esoteric. 

At Scriptorium 16B, Layne provides “skin illumination” in the form of machine and hand-poked tattoos, performing the ancient tradition of permanent skin decoration. Layne’s work reflects an ancient and underlying spiritual dimension of reality, universal yet often concealed. Through tattooing Layne seeks to reveal the esoteric and preserve ancient knowledge once bound with gold. 

Gilding throughout the exhibition is sourced from Layne’s great grandfather, a painter and church restorer working in NYC during the first half of the 20th century. 

Plant specimens and botanical crafts were grown by Layne in his family garden, following the traditions of the monastic medicine gardens of late antiquity and the medieval period.

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Working as an artist and tattooer, Layne Miller ties a string between past and present, using archetypal images to examine the collective unconscious and the transformative power of mystical imagery and experiences. Layne is a passionate student of history and Ancient Greek, he enjoys playing classical guitar, growing medicinal plants, and volunteering as an archaeological illustrator.