The art world has become so insular. The rules have become so autodidactic that, in a sense, they lose track of what people have any interest in thinking about, talking about or even looking at.

You'll find that street casting in America is a lot different than street casting in different nations.

At the same time I really enjoy painting flesh.

Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And there was, like, trees and sculptures and like - it was, like, this crazy, like, secret garden space.

There's nothing shocking inherently about that, given that so much of the way that artists are taught is by copying old master paintings.

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where people are in cars.

In the end I'm in love with it [Western European easel painting]. And that's where a lot of the influence from the work comes from.