My paintings are autobiographical in that they reveal my most intimate thoughts and feelings. My work starts from personal emotions that are sometimes difficult to reveal directly. Never have I been a direct person . . . I find it difficult to communicate, speak clearly or directly. I best express myself through the use of metaphor, the language of myth preceding logic.

When developing a portrait, I place myself amongst objects collected throughout the years, such as personal photographs, periodical ads and artifacts. Scattered about, these images help me achieve a sense of order to start painting. I call this “the process of association”, a vague attempt at recording dreams or memory. In this state of unconsciousness, so to speak, ideas emerge. I usually create portraits of people I know. But rather than self-standing portraits, these become “containers” that hold subject matter or narrative. While at times I romanticize the association between elements, at other instances I juxtapose dark and absurd elements. In any case, I deconstruct the image, only to find its essence in the process.