Everything is autobiographical and everything is a portrait.

When I look at a body it gives me choice of what to put in a painting, what will suit me and what won't

My work is purely autobiographical... It is about myself and my surroundings.

The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work.

A painter must think of everything he sees as being there entirely for his own use and pleasure.

I want paint to work as flesh... my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them ... As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does.

And, since the model he faithfully copies is not going to be hung up next to the picture, since the picture is going to be there on its own, it is of no interest whether it is an accurate copy of the model.