I think there's something important in going against the grain, and perhaps finding value in things that aren't necessarily institutionally recognized.

Is it the responsibility of the colored artist or the ethnic artist to create works that are designed to exist in opposition to a certain political structure?

I'd like to walk that fine line between the authentic artist self and the manufactured artist self. I'd like to exist outside of a set of expectations or assumptions about what the Kehinde Wiley brand is. And I'd like to walk towards something that's a bit more unpredictable, human.

At the same time I really enjoy painting flesh.

I think that the Kehinde Wiley brand is something that I'm working towards expanding and to inclusion.

For me, I wanted to create something that's much more driven by a type of selfishness, a type of decadence.

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.