Manners and social rituals also make regular appearances in your pieces.
I was raised with a lot of manners. I used to get whacked with a fork if I didn’t hold my spoon right, that kind of thing … There’s something about civility that I find important. I kind of feel like we’re losing that. We all have to get along, and manners are a nice way to connect us.
Obviously, there’s a certain style to your work. How would you characterize it?
My biggest quest is always to capture the face … I put a lot of emphasis on the eyes. They’re very direct. They’re pretty primitive. I try to capture some soulfulness in them. Maybe a combination of joy and a little bit of scary.