It is hard to produce work in New York. You kind of have to center yourself - do some Zen meditation exercises and just focus. It is very distracting, and money, of course, is an issue.

It is hard to produce work in New York. You kind of have to center yourself - do some Zen meditation exercises and just focus. It is very distracting, and money, of course, is an issue.

Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness and your black presence.

I kept wanting to push my image as validity; I wanted to see my portrait on a wall and know it was okay.

The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue.

I dont think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill.

Kerry James Marshall especially was a huge influence on me in graduate school, as were Wangechi Mutu and Julie Mehretu. These artists are titans. My education was also very much in comic books, so I've been going to comic book events in New York and have met a few artists there.