People are my preferred motif. I paint people who stimulate me, forceful personalities.
I also frequently portray myself. Painting a single portrait of a subject doesn’t satisfy me.
Usually I produce an extensive series, examining various psychological nuances.
Ultimately, I depict mental states. Those of my subjects as well as my own.
My method combines discipline with abandon. First, I patiently outline the figure.
Then, in a rapid onslaught of slashes and strokes, I let my emotions command my brush. The figure is usually alone and tightly cropped. I rarely include any surroundings or accessories. I paint either from life or from
photographs. I direct my subjects when I have a specific gestural geometry in mind.
Otherwise I allow them to freely act out their impulses, to disclose a persona of their own
choice, whether true or affected. There’s a certain drama and grotesquerie in my work, a
relish for exaggerated poses, twisted limbs and grimaces. However, some of my paintings
are subtler in mood. I am not insensitive to beauty. I alternate between warm color
harmonies and expressive light-dark contrasts....