I am a self-taught artist. Once I lived in a house made of bousillage, a type of mud construction, whose old walls showed the effects of time and environment. My paintings are like those old walls. Layers of paint are built up, then torn down, and repeated over and over. The mark-making process remains apparent. Early on I found inspiration in the work of Cezanne. His use of strong color to build form interested me. To add more texture and meaning, I began to add collage elements – I cut up my favorite shirt to include in this self-portrait. A subject that particularly intrigues me is the clown, which appears in many forms throughout art history. A complex motif, the clown represents life’s duality - laughter and pain, the absurd and the mundane, the inner and outer self. My painting is called “My Yellow Self.”