A Dean Millien Solo Exhibition
March 10 — April 10, 2022
Opening Party: March 10, 6 — 8PM

I like to make stuff that I can play with — things that walk. I was making art inside my mom’s belly. But, actually, at age three I started getting interested in doing things with my hands.

I was born in 1972 in Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn. Little Dean at Kings County Hospital with all the drama going on around me. At three, I had collected toys. So many toys. Sesame Street characters on a bus. Batmobiles. Fuzzy aliens and an ice cream truck with Bert and Ernie on it.

Tinfoil was revealed to me at the age of four. It was, even to this day, an escape — finding another way out. I was making noise, a big crashing sound overnight when my Dad was trying to sleep. He got annoyed and got rid of all my toys. My toys were gone. That left me with nothing.

Foil was easily accessible. My mom was wrapping sandwiches and then BOOM! I see it. It was shiny, got my attention, and you could cut it in squares. That was it, there was nothing else. It was like an epiphany. I could make the toys I lost and make them better. For every one my Dad got rid of, I made ten out of foil. It was fate.

Why make animals? I feel like animals could talk to me when no one else did. They’re a different entity — very spiritual, good energy, a secret type of power. Animals speak to me. I’ve always connected with good things — cartoons, Smurfs, Tom and Jerry, and the animal world works with me. It does very much so. The difference with people and animals is that animals have their own secrets, society, and power that they can share with you when your heart and mind is open.

You will see lambs, worms, lions, tigers and bears — oh my! I made that shit. Handmade creations. Everything is based on my time in the residency at Summertime. I thought of things that would put smiles on peoples’ faces. Imagine Noah’s Ark at a disco. It’s going to be shiny, to say the least.