Why do you make art?

I feel it is my destiny to do this. It gives me great satisfaction. It makes me sleep well. I also could never physically work at a nine to five job. I was never able to do that.

What is your creative process like?

Actually I don’t do it. I just channel the art, you can say donating my body to another personality, like those people who have spirits talk through them. Or you can say that its a deeper part of myself that does the art. The point is that whoever does the art, that part of me that does the art is not really available in day to day life… The Andrew you see walking around and stuff is not really the same Andrew who made the art… But of course everything you say or do to me will be reflected in the art, even though its a deeper part of me that does it.

Why is your art so weird?

Well you see, there have been galleries where I could have easily sold my art and made a lot of money, if I chose to do commercial art. I could do pop art and make a bunch of money, but that would be ripping people off. I never sold out, and what I paint is what I feel, and what is real to me. It is what touches me. And I try to render it as accurately as possible.

Who are you inspired by?

Let me tell you that real great painters do not imitate any other painter. Picasso, Dali, Kandinsky, Magritte, Miro, Renoir – these painters never imitated anyone, at least not for long. They would not be great masters of art if they imitated. I am inspired by them – by their originality and by the fact that they painted what I paint – inner reality that is not destroyed by imitating some art style of the past.

Can you explain a typical picture of yours? How is it true to life?

In life everything is connected, because we are all living in the same world. But if two people I don’t know get married, it doesn’t affect me much. They could be ecstatic, I could be falling apart next door. At any give moment, there are people dying, people laughing, people crying, people getting violent, people making love. So this is what I paint in every single picture. But lets say I hit my elbow on a corner. It affects me much more than say the people three doors down who are just married and are making love… So I’ll draw my elbow huge and those people small… But they are in the same picture in order to show that everything is connected. When you look at my painting, you see the people dying, the people kissing, you see someone angry and someone else quiet and peaceful. But these images are not so obvious that there is a big contrast between them. When you see one, you think that’s all there is, you don’t see the others. And then the others surprise you if you keep looking. If your eye falls on something that touches you deeply, you can find out about yourself and your own feelings. You may see something that reflects your life in the painting.

Why is it so difficult to look at your paintings?

My paintings require a lot of energy, if you really want to see them. What you see will shock you, it will make you shout “impossible!” or laugh aloud. If you really see what is there, you can learn the secrets of the universe, because truth is the same no matter how it is reflected, and I only paint what is true. If you really listen to a song that is a true song, not a commercial song designed to make money by selling you false ideas which you enjoy hearing, you can learn the mysteries of the universe from that. Same with my paintings. They are like human beings – if you want to build a good relationship with someone, it will take time and energy. You can’t look at a person and say “oh that’s nice person there.” That may be true, but only if you live with that person for a while will you really know them. The same with my art. You won’t appreciate it if you won’t give your attention and energy, and when you are stressed out, tired exhausted, you might not want to look at some of the heavier paintings I have. Then again, the energy of the painting may also give you a jolt and wake you up!