A lot of my work is about these moments you find, like when you're driving alone at night by yourself, or you sit at home and smoke a cigarette and all of a sudden there is beautiful music playing - for me it is sad piano music - and think, "I'm so in love and I don't even know with what." You want to freeze this moment.

Generally paintings are about technique, but I don't see myself as a painter. I am more of a storyteller and an image - maker.

My paintings used to be so realistic and I found it a little bit boring, especially now that I'm in New York. I wanted to be more free, first in my mind and then, slowly, in my work. Many artists have these jumps in their work and at some point it looks like a supermarket. For me it was important to develop.

For a long time I found myself calling so many things "genius." Sometimes you mean it literally and sometimes it's the opposite, but either way it is so heavy and has so much meaning.

To me, paintings are about beauty. They are very feminine, and beauty is something very feminine. For a long time, people would talk with me about identity. I don't have issues with identity, I just follow this kind of feminine beauty because I became a victim of my art, which I think is the best thing for an artist. So many artists use their talent, but with the best artists, their talent uses them.

A lot of my work is about these moments you find, like when you're driving alone at night by yourself, or you sit at home and smoke a cigarette and all of a sudden there is beautiful music playing - for me it is sad piano music - and think, "I'm so in love and I don't even know with what." You want to freeze this moment.

There is a difference between being a bad child and being a wild child. Anybody can be wild, but to be bad you need some kind of knowledge.