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

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

And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. And I found it something that I've learned from and gained from.

If I have the same plan to go into the streets, find random strangers, use art-historical referent from their - from the specific location, to use decorative patterns from this location, that's a rule. That's a set of patterns that you can apply to all societies. But what gives rise or what comes out of each experiment is so radically different.

Unlike the background in many of the paintings that I was inspired by or paintings that I borrowed poses from - the great European paintings of the past - the background in my work does not play a passive role.

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

Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.