If every canvas had a soundtrack, what would audiences hear the moment they stepped into your world?
Every canvas inevitably provokes a different soundtrack based on its com- position. What a viewer feels or hears is subject to their tastes/preferences. For me, jazz and afrobeat are usually playing in the background while I work.
Which single object in your home or studio would you rescue first in a fire, not because it’s valuable, but because it tells your story?
I’d grab my surfboard so I can find refuge in the ocean, a place that’s forever been a part of me.
If someone walked into your studio when no one was watching, what small ritual or habit would they witness that says everything about who you are as an artist?
I think to tell the “everything” about someone solely based on a habit is rather abstract. The depth of any human, especially any artist, would take a lot more to unravel. My rituals simply treat the act of creation as a meditation, being present with life while protecting one’s creativity from all the distractions in the world.
What’s something people almost always assume about you after seeing your work that couldn’t be further from the truth?
My art is a rather direct representation of who I am. People seem to feel what I’m doing. The work invokes a peaceful state, as it’s intended to.
Imagine you wake up tomorrow unable to create ever again. What creative obsession do you think would completely take over your life instead?
So that question cancels itself out. If I’m never able to create ever again, how do I have a creative obsession? But for the sake of the question, I’d make traditional japanese paper kites.
Imagine someone discovers one of your artworks 200 years from now, knowing nothing about our era. What do you hope they understand about humanity—not from the subject itself, but from your use of color, balance, and illusion?
I hope the human species has the capacity to survive itself. Hopefully in the future, people will look back and see that besides all the destruction and mayhem, we were still capable of creating beautiful things.
