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I have to say something, I guess, set the goalposts for people to come and say: why did you put them here and not over there? It would be naive to think that a painting is finished when I put the brushes down. As you know I would be happy to just work away in my studio until I drop. But no one will notice me if I don't wave a bit.
You don't like to talk about yourself, do you?
Stop me if
I start explaining my paintings, that would be embarrassing and missing
the point. The paintings would lose their power to disturb. Obviously
they are important to me and there's a lot of myself in them. Painting
gives you the freedom to explore and define yourself and the world. But
don't hit people over the head with it. You will hardly know who I am
or what I mean, but I shall be good health to you nevertheless. That I
find a healthy attitude.
Wouldn't it be much stronger a statement if you didn't say anything
at all and just let the paintings do the talking?
Oh yes! I'm confident that my paintings can stand on their own, otherwise they wouldn't be finished. And yet I feel there's room for misunderstanding. Painting lends itself beautifully to subversion. You mustn't take everything at face value. Painting in my case is painfully slow. Art doesn't just pour out of me. Subversive in that it can undermine my own imagination. I don't want to pretend that I know. I know what I’m not. I'm not a surrealist, there are no mystical messages and there's no symbolism in my paintings. And yet it's all in there if you wish.
What are you?
A friend calls me the Last of the Mohecans. Everyone around him seems to be busy having a career and he sees me as the last member of a tribe that puts passion first. It can’t be true. I have the unfortunate quality that when I find myself in a group I can adapt to the point of self-denial. I only mention this because the relationship between individual and group is something I examine in my paintings. Which doesn't answer your question. I reckon I'm reluctant to be seen to fit into a category.