This is - it's a sociological experiment in many ways. And so you're seeing the results of what happens when you put a lot of boys in a room looking at art history.

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.

If we fast forward through the journey, like Adam Sandler in the movie, Click, we’ll look up one day and see that we missed our lives.

The older you get, the easier it is for you to distinguish between your friends and people you are not seeing for the first time.

Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains.

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness.

A great smile is a wonderful asset, but a good heart is pure gold.

If you can't forgive yourself, how can you expect me to?

How do you tell your mother that you feel you're getting... old? If I'm... old, then what is she?

How can a man be so brave and so stupid, so gentle and so cruel, so warming and so detestable -- all at the same time?

I was born in Eastern Europe, in Latvia, and I'm fluent in Russian.

I have tough skin. I don't really read any of the comments unless they are positive. I don't accept that much negativity in my life. It's not an option.