I think that one of the questions that I asked of myself in later years was to this point of the political directive.

I think there's something important in going against the grain, and perhaps finding value in things that aren't necessarily institutionally recognized.

This is something that, as artists, we constantly deal with-throwing away the past, slaying the father, and creating the new. This desire to throw away the old rules.

The backgrounds by design are a very key part of the conversation, because I want a kind of fight or pressure to exist between the figure and the background.

All art is self-portraiture.

Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.

I believe that artists should be part of the culture. I think that my work clearly bears that out.

The art world has become so insular. The rules have become so autodidactic that, in a sense, they lose track of what people have any interest in thinking about, talking about or even looking at.

We have a lot of sort of received historical ways of viewing portraiture. And I suppose in some way I'm sort of questioning that by toying with the rules of the game.

We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's just sort of in our DNA. And so portraiture is a very human act.

I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.

Don’t be too engrossed with things of the world discover your purpose in life

I walk in my own path.

The library is the temple of learning.

Nothing lifts me out of a bad mood better than a hard workout on my treadmill. It never fails. Exercise is nothing short of a miracle.

We should never allow computers to make inherently governmental decisions in terms of the application of military force, even if that's happening on the internet.

A good horse makes short miles.

If you are healthy, you can work. If you can work, then the chances of success are higher.

I don't buy anything which is Islamization of knowledge. I don't understand what it means in fact.

But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark -- that sort of make everything else seem -- unimportant.