EARLIER WORK

While the politically critical implications of the art of Dan Mills are central to the work, a formal reading of each object not only reconciles the aesthetic and social awareness, but succeeds in reinforcing the message. Employing devices such as repetition, juxtaposition, transparent layering, and selection, Mills weaves a host of associations that spark the intellect and ignite the imagination.

—Nancy Einreinhofer, “Embellishments and Subversions” essay, Dan Mills: Maps, exhibition brochure, Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, 2001.

A selection of earlier paintings, constructions, and works on paper from series that are formative to my more recent work conceptually and materially.