Millena DeMille is best known for her elegant, captivating landscapes, semi-abstract, meditative reflections shaped by her experience of living closely with nature and memories of travel. Her work captures the fleeting atmosphere of passing clouds, the weight and wonder of natural forms, and the quiet intensity of stillness and light. At once grounded and ethereal, her compositions evoke the emotional resonance of a place rather than its literal depiction.
What sets Millena's work apart is her distinct, intricately layered technique. Rather than traditional brushwork, she builds her surfaces through the delicate application of luminous sheets of silver, gold, or copper metal leaf, inks, waxes, and dyes to the surface in thin, controlled layers. By exploiting their reflective properties, she creates a smooth yet complex visual field that changes with light and movement. Her artworks are not static images; they are “living scapes,” revealing different moods and dimensions throughout the day.
This sensitivity to material and light is evident in the physicality of her process. Each piece may involve 20 to 30 meticulously applied layers, yet the final surface is seamless and tactile, sanded and refined until it exudes depth with no visible texture. This highly technical, physical method draws on her background in furniture and interior design, giving her deep, intuitive understanding of materials: the grain of te wooden panels she paintson, the exact grade of sandpaper used, or the chalky consistency of commercial paints she selects for her the thinned, layere, and worn into translucent vils of colour.
Millena's practice extends to every aspect of the artwork, including the bespoke frames she hand-produces. No element is outsourced - each frame is custom-made to fit its corresponding piece with precision. Ultra-thin and minimal, they are layered, applied, sanded, and finished with the same level of care and craftsmanship as the painting itself. The result is an entirely handmade object - cohesive, tactile, and refined - where every surface has been touched by the artist's hand. Millena continues to push the boundaries of her medium, experimenting with non-traditional tools and sustainably sourced recycled materials, and constantly evolving her techniques. Her work is a testament to the intimate, physical, and technical relationship she maintains with her materials - where art is not only seen but felt.
Millena DeMille has exhibited widely since 2016, with a strong and consistent presence at major art fairs in London and internationally. She is a regular participant in the Affordable Art Fair, where her work has frequently sold out, and has shown with prominent galleries including Art Salon (Bath), Select Gallery (London), The Paragon Gallery (Cheltenham) and Masterpiece.art. Her international appearances include fairs in Warsaw and Singapore, and her work has been acquired for prestigious locations such as Raffles London at The OWO. In 2022, she was selected for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, where her piece sold on the opening night. Her practice also includes bespoke commissions and an artist residency with Art Salon.