Though identity, family hierarchy, and nostalgia play a factor in the outcome of my paintings, the time in which I know someone plays only a small role in my process of creating the work. Painting gives me the ability to feel and think simultaneously, to move and seduce without words. The development and intuition comes from the long private and meditative moments of me being in the studio analyzing and painting these photos. I add found materials and colors, layers of physical information that I could also relate to the subject, showing the relationship of everyday objects to one another. I think a painting is more like the real world when it’s made out of real-world stuff. The world is no longer depicted but becomes part of the artwork. The process of making it is at the same time introspection into the self and evidence of my perception. With no explanation needed, I sometimes just allow the sacrosanct or ritualistic power in the materials to speak for itself.