“Painting is a presence. There is something archaic, brutal, and direct in the act of painting, of tracing. I am attached to this experience and to the decisions one must make on the spot, while the painting is still wet, still open; to the traces the hand leaves as it follows the impulses of the psyche. In no other artistic medium are traces so intimately and permanently linked to the movements of the body. They are, beyond mere representation, a form of direct language. As in a live performance, it is a field for immediate experimentation, albeit in the confined space of the studio. I am not trying to illustrate anything. To me, a picture is something the body experiences to signify the presence of painting. Then again, I don't think it has anything to do with the sublime or with metaphysical verticality.” [...]