One of my most strong memories was studying with Mel Bochner, one of the, I think, high water marks of American conceptual art.

I think that's kind of indicative of a type of self-confidence that people develop when they recognize their own ability to create.

I love the idea of engaging religious sentiment and how that vocabulary has evolved over time.

I noticed that the work of my non - I noticed that the work of my friends who were white and male, specifically, existed in a type of freedom that was not bound by certain political questions and assumptions and locations.

I create something that means something to me, to the world, and try to do my best. I can't fix everything.

Let's talk about the artist's desire to go beyond the pictorial or the representational and the desire to create the abstract - the idea that painting can go beyond what is seen. What we found is that, increasingly, painting became about paint, its own material truth. When I'm talking about the way that we look at others and the way that we see ourselves increasingly, looking at others becomes its own material truth.

Going back to that idea that painting sits still and that we give ourselves over to it over time. There's a difference between living with - imagine if this were sitting in your living room for 15 years. You'd probably understand the contours of it.