The main component of my recent oil paintings are the organic lines that I have developed over the years. They originated from sketches of pornographic images.

A few years ago, while painting portraits, I grew tired of painting from photographs and wanted to use live models. I was looking for something more active than stiff poses. I started to look at pornographic images. They were wonderful for sketching. I liked the energy and vigorous lines that emerged.

Since then, these sketches have evolved into something more abstract. They look more like body parts intertwined to form their own universe. These “parts” are not necessarily human and could be from any living thing. I draw the “parts” in red with tiny brushes directly onto the canvas. Then, I structure a geometric landscape around them. I am strongly influenced by Francis Bacon, Willem de Kooning and Nicolas Poussin. Years of Asian calligraphy lessons have also influenced my lines.

I use sweet and sugary colors. The happy colors create a juxtaposition with the content which is basically about human tragedy. I use color to differentiate the space between: playing with positive and negative spaces to suggest the existence of hidden dimensions.