In a gallery, there's an expectation of high prices and a somewhat elitist atmosphere.

The goal of art-making in general is communication.

There's something of a painting of a woman that represents all women - and by extension, all of humanity - that I just find very exciting. It's a nice distillation, I think, of what it means to be alive.

As an artist, it's possible to get tired of yourself.

When I first started painting candyland imagery, I was looking for the best possible metaphor for everything that is pleasure, desire and insatiability.

In terms of the class structure that you see so much in European portraiture, I don't think one feels that in America in the 21st century. But we have these other kinds of social structures now, like celebrity, who establish new hierarchies.

People's love of sweets and guilty feelings about overindulgence are pretty universal.