Harland Miller’s Hell… It’s Only Forever (Large) (2020) is a bold, graphic, and darkly humorous work that fuses his fascination with typography, colour theory, and existential wit. Executed as a woodcut, the piece draws on the crisp, hard-edged aesthetic of mid-century graphic design while using the physicality of printmaking to lend texture and presence to its layered meanings.
The composition is divided into two distinct zones. The upper portion is dominated by the cropped, partially obscured word “Hell,” rendered in a striking gradient of vertical colour bands that move from deep purple through crimson and orange to bright yellow. The segmentation into bold chromatic stripes gives the work a dynamic, almost cinematic energy, while also evoking the design language of 1970s and ’80s paperback covers, album art, and advertising. The warm, fiery spectrum of the colours — from the ominous darkness of purple to the burning intensity of yellow-orange — creates an immediate visual link to the word “Hell,” suggesting both danger and allure.
The lower portion of the work is left largely white, offering a stark contrast to the intensity above. Here, in smaller, italicised black type, is the phrase “…It’s only forever” — a disarmingly casual follow-up to the jarring main word. This juxtaposition of visual drama and verbal nonchalance is classic Miller: the initial impact of the title is softened, complicated, and even made absurd by the addition of a qualifier that turns eternal damnation into something almost mundane. Beneath this text, the bold numeral “1” and the artist’s name, Harland Miller, underlined for emphasis, mimic the formal structure of book or magazine cover design, anchoring the composition in the language of publishing.
As a woodcut, the piece bears subtle signs of its making — the precision of the colour fields balanced by the organic variations in ink density and edge sharpness. This tension between mechanical clarity and handmade imperfection is central to the work’s appeal, reinforcing Miller’s ongoing engagement with the aesthetics of mass production filtered through the individuality of fine art.
Conceptually, Hell… It’s Only Forever sits comfortably within Miller’s broader exploration of language as image and image as language. The cropped typography invites multiple readings — the “He” of the first letters could evoke an unnamed figure, or “Hel” could nod to the Norse goddess of the underworld — but the completed word’s implications are inescapable. Pairing it with the blasé “…It’s only forever” undermines the severity of the term, introducing a tone of gallows humour that reflects both British irony and a broader human impulse to laugh at our own mortality.
The vibrant spectrum of colours also complicates the message: far from the monochrome darkness we might associate with “Hell,” the palette is exuberant, even optimistic, suggesting temptation, seduction, or the possibility that eternity — however one defines it — may not be entirely bleak.
In Hell… It’s Only Forever (Large), Miller delivers a work that is visually arresting, conceptually layered, and quintessentially his own. It marries design precision, painterly texture, and a razor-sharp sense of humour to create an object that invites both immediate recognition and sustained contemplation.
For more information on Harland Miller's Hell… It’s Only Forever (Large) for sale, contact our galleries using the form below.