Portrait By Quyn Dakao
YOU ARE SELF-TAUGHT. DOES THAT MEAN YOU’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME LOOKING AT BOOKS?
Well, I’ve drawn my entire life and I would just save images, anything I liked.
HOW DID THIS BODY OF WORK BEGIN? IS THERE A THEME LEADING THE WAY?
I was already working on these images when the Harper’s show came up. Throughout the works, there was a musical or recording theme because I have climbed into high-fidelity recording systems over the pandemic for some reason. I just found ways to put that into the work.
SALONS ARE A RECURRING SCENE IN YOUR WORK. WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO THAT SPACE?
It’s just something that’s been a constant in my life. From when I was younger, my dad would take me to the barbershop, and then as I got older, it just became a thing where you do it every two weeks; you get a haircut. On Saturdays, the women in my family would always wake up early to go to the hair salon.
WHAT’S YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO REALISM?
I never want the burden of capturing reality, so I just let it be after a certain point. When I was teaching myself how to paint, I got to a certain point, and I really embraced my limitations. I try to capture something that feels a bit real, but then, obviously, I go against that with the extremes of bright colors.
WHEN YOU ARE PAINTING WHAT COMES FIRST?
The face.