My new body of work reflects my latest explorations – of the deeper regions of my own psyche and also the world of abstraction.

For me, the figure is the gateway. Through it, I access my imagination and the life of my soul. I enter a place where oil paint and human expression are my devotions, and color is my guide.

The sensations of color help me to explore and discover what I seek. It's not easy. The figure emerges, disappears, and reappears – until, finally, I connect strongly with the image. From there, I build layers of paint, then dig back into them to reveal a texture or color underneath that adds beauty, depth and elegance to the piece. A lot of my recent work has been about accessing the subconscious, allowing the canvas to become a playground for my imagination and that of the viewer.

I continue to work on my series of paintings that I call my "Recycle People." I create them on small canvases, using only the paint that is left on my palette at the end of the day.

Beyond those two constraints, it's an exercise in pure creative freedom. I paint the faces from imagination. They reflect my inner life and state of mind, as well as the psychological echos of literal moments in my life. It is the things that bring me inward that inspire me – rain, Dvorak's New World Symphony, incense, and poetry. It is from that place that I create.