The horses are my companions and carry me through painting. I acknowledge the horse as an animal and as an inhabitant of art history, nevertheless my figures go beyond this symbolism. There is great beauty in not always showing things too clearly. My figures are my vehicle for this. They can be horses and meta-horses at the same time.

My paintings are about light, shadow, connection, space, colour, and about the ever-recurring theme of love and disgrace – this is the state the figures are in. When I portray a party, its theme is life and death.

I grew up largely unsupervised, in a rather rough neighborhood. The rule was to be home when the streetlights came on. I loved books and read my way through the small library that was on my route home from school. I spent a lot of time alone, and a lot of time with other kids. I had a lot of time.

We human animals are Bildertiere - we are animals of symbols and pictures. They talk to us all the time. I like the magic in these mostly-unconscious conversations. The spell embedded in a picture is its boundary. And it is very blurry.

I tend to look back to the painters and writers and composers that came before me. Many friends among them are long dead. The painting, the book, or the music is the table where we all sit together and have a beer. It's magic.

I want them to feel something.

The holy trinity of egg, oil, and water.

I'm listening to my playlists – I am a mixtape person, and I listen to them on heavy rotation.

Art and the art world are not necessarily the same.

Colours.

Beer.

Vice and virtue (simultaneously): I forget easily.

Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

We're at a point where nothing can go wrong anymore.

Dance.

Playing Bridge.