I've been very fortunate in my art career. It's something I would never have expected.

I made a tin man costume with tin foil and furnace parts because I thought it would help me be more heartless.

After finishing art school I was applying to stores like Home Depot and Walmart. You know, places where you have to take a urine test before you get your minimum wage. Even those places wouldn't hire me. So I was lucky when I got included in a group show at the Richard Heller gallery that kind of started my art career.

My favorite artists from comics were early ones like Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko who had a real heavy ink style. Captain America, co created by Jack Kirby, was a favorite of mine and I sometimes use an altered version of his costume on some of my characters.

I had always loved Joseph Cornell and wanted to do something with dioramas.

The process of the body changing and making a whole human fascinates me.

I've been very fortunate in my art career. It's something I would never have expected.