In The End, It Doesn't Really Matter

When I Left The Royal College, I Decided I Would Only Make Paintings That I Would Want To Look At Myself, That Felt Close To My Life.

When I Was Painting In Art School - And I Think Many Painters In The 1980s Worked Similarly - A Finished Painting Would Often Be Constructed From Lots Of Other Paintings Underneath. Some Of These Individual Layers Of Painting Were Better Than Others, But That Was Something That You Would Often Only Realise Retrospectively.

The Studio Is A Place Where I Can Experiment Before I'm Prepared For An Idea To Become A Body Of Work, Or A New Way Of Working, Or A Way Of Working That Can Sustain Me Over A Period Of Time.

There Was A Point In Time Where The Thought Of People Even Talking About Me Made Me Anxious. Physically.

I Was Listening To A Lot Of Hip Hop, Music Like Public Enemy That Was About Raising Consciousness, And I Realised I Could Feed That Directly Into My Work, Using Images In A Way That Was A Bit Like Sampling - Taking Images From Diverse Places, Exploring The Contradictions Without Trying To Hide The Seams.