3. Satan at His Laptop

Art is the magic in my life. - A work of art is an event and I wish that I felt the impulse to make things more often. I’d prefer each work to be a departure, so an exhibition of my work would look like a group show. I hope that my work reflects my personality: that it’s exuberant and sharp, and that it has a wicked sense of humor. The artists whose work I love best have probably influenced me the most, and they’re too numerous to mention. Among recent artists, the artists whose works are closest to my heart are Joan Brown, Jonathan Borofsky, Robert Colescott and H. C. Westermann, though I’m almost as enthusiastic about the work of several others. Though I have an intense aversion to academic categories, my work might be characterized as ‘Really Bad Painting’ or ‘Son of Funk‘! Art is not about theories, or even words and ideas: it’s beyond theories, words or ideas. Consider the Easter Island Heads: can one imagine what a docent might say to explain them, or a dealer to sell them? A historian might describe how they were made or their social purpose, but it would be impossible to explain the uncanny effect that they have on a viewer. - A work of art has power: it’s irresistible.