There is a fascination with violence and power in all modernism, and I sort of saw classic modernism as being more similar to Wyndham Lewis than to the Renaissance. It's not about flow and the presence of humanism and all those things.

I think what I do is find a cliché and try to believe in it, try to get to where I don't laugh at it.

I find I can't get rid of my trashiness as an artist. A lot of my themes in painting, to the extent that there are intentional themes, are meant to bring that conundrum into high relief.

I think a big problem with art school is that it makes people feel like they have to be interested in everything that's of high quality.

I think a lot of people take a scholarly approach where they feel like you're supposed to study things that depress you.

There's nothing worse than people talking about theories and humor.

You have to like everything that you're painting. Maybe on a narrative level it seems harsh... but I like everything in all my paintings. It's as if you need to be less intelligent at that level.