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Quote by Michael C. McMillen

“I think we all have a tendency to have things. Even, I've noticed, people on the street collect things. So I think there's some kind of human impulse to collect. That's why they build museums, I guess.”

Author

Michael C. McMillen

Michael C. McMillen is an American sculptor known for his unique artistic style and creative works. His sculptures often blend modern and traditional elements, showcasing rich imagination and exquisite craftsmanship. more

“For me, my work is pretty much a lot of my identity. I mean I live to work, basically. With money I'm able to earn I don't put into clothes especially or things like that. I use it as a way of buying time to work. That's how I see money for me. It represents time to be by myself working on these ideas. So in that sense, the work is kind of a surrogate religion, maybe not so surrogate, maybe it is part religion.”

Kind Mean Identity

Author:Michael C. McMillen

“I can't make things I don't feel passionately about. I've never been able to. Years ago when I was going through college, I was trying to earn some extra money by making motel paintings and it was the hardest work I've ever done in my life, psychically. It was just torture.”

Trying Done College Painting Torture Extras

Author:Michael C. McMillen

“I want to create objects that will stimulate the viewer in ways that I am stimulated by these objects. Now that's an ideal situation and the artist has no control over what his audience is going to think, but they can try to communicate some quality, some poetry through the work and just hope that the viewer has something in the vicinity of a similar experience.”

Thinking Trying Artist Quality Situation Audience Communicate

Author:Michael C. McMillen

“I don't need to control the mind of my viewer. Now this might sound contradictory because I want to make these installations set up an environment that will produce a certain kind of experience in the viewer, but beyond a certain point, I take hands off and leave it up to chance and personal experience. So maybe it's a marriage of control and no control we're talking about where the artist produces the artifact or the environment and then walks away from it, and the second half of the equation is the viewer and their personal history and how they feel about what they're experiencing.”

Mind Kind Artist Chance Environment Contradictory

Author:Michael C. McMillen