What's great about it is that painting doesn't move. And so in the 21st century, when we're used to clicking and browsing and having constant choice, painting simply sits there silently and begs you to notice the smallest of detail.

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.

I believe the artist is capable of contributing to the broader evolution of culture in all of its dimensions.

The artists ultimately respond to the public.

In my work, I want to create an understanding, not about what a painting looks like but about what a painting says.

There was no image of the other biological half of myself. And as an artists, as a - as an - as a portraitist, the look of who you are was radically important to me.

I was 11 when I was first introduced to live drawing classes and going to art school.