WEBVTT

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(soulful tranquil music)

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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- The protocol of painting
is very slow and meditative,

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and I think that's what
I appreciate about it.

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It's a space that I'm very comfortable in.

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I think it's become really good

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for my mental health. (laughs)

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There's a dynamism that
happens with these images

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where it becomes about
that singular moment.

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(objects clacking)

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Oh, it's on the table in the break room.

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I was introduced to these bikers
when I moved to Baltimore.

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Although most people
consider them a nuisance,

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I think there's something so fantastic

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about their ability to teach themselves

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these highly skilled ways
of riding these dirt bikes.

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They're riding at this
12 o'clock position,

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which is straight up and down,

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but a lot of times their
hands are off of the bike,

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and there's a sense of freedom.

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I wanted to try to capture
this effect of, like, flying.

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Although these are dirt bikes,
and dirt bikes are loud,

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these paintings are kind of quiet,

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as if they've been lifted off the ground,

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they're flying in the air,

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and it's just like this moment of silence.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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(street bustling)
(wind whooshing)

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I was born in 1973.

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We were always outside riding our bikes.

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When we all turned like, I
don't know, like 11 or 12,

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somebody's parents got
them like a scooter,

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and then everybody got a scooter.

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So all of us had...

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It was like a gang of,
like, 12 or 13 kids,

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and we'd be riding around on our scooters.

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It was an all-American childhood.

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I kind of feel like a giant in here now.

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There's like the piggy bank (chuckles)

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that I painted in art
class in high school.

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I used to push this window up

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and put my boombox in the window,

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and I remember memorizing

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Prince: "Sign O' The Times," (chuckles)

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and playing it over and over again

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with my cassette tape player.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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Artists have been painting
children for a very long time,

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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so it feels like another way

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of making a traditional painting.

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The idea was having this
slide in the sky, almost,

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and it seems like he's
just reached this pinnacle,

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like, he's this pioneer
standing on top of a mountain.

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I wanted to join him in
that moment of exploration.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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When I was living in Baltimore,

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I had the opportunity to work on a farm.

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It's some of the hardest
work I've ever done,

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and I have a great respect
for the ministry of that,

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of, like, growing food.

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My model, his name is Denzel,

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is just a very special person

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who's very passionate
about teaching people

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how to grow their own food
and where it comes from.

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I named the painting "A God Blessed Land"

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in thinking about American soil,

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and my ancestral connections
to farming and plantations.

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Alongside that, I also want it

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to just be, like, a regular
moment of a guy's life.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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(metal screeching)

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(metal clanking)

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Because the work is
evolving and I'm evolving,

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I've had to change my process up some.

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Painting this large is very different

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from what I've always done my whole life.

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It's something that I'm
still getting used to.

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Certain things have to
be more exaggerated,

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like, highlights have
to be more exaggerated

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to still come to life,

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when you're, you know, 10
or 15, 20 feet back from it.

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For me, it's really about
getting the face in first.

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Especially after I get the eyes in,

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that's when the image kind of comes alive.

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(intriguing tranquil music)

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Hi, Alice.

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I wanna like hop over,
(chuckles) get closer.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)

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This one, when I look at it,

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I don't see anything I wanna fix,

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which sometimes I'm like,

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"Oh, I wish I could do this
to it, or do that to it,"

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but I don't see anything that I wanna fix.

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I love beauty.

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I know beauty's a bad word,

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but I like to make things
that make people feel good,

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and I think beautiful
paintings are important.

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(intriguing tranquil
ethereal upbeat music)

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I say figuration is like
the soul food of art-making,

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it's like what takes you back home,

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and what you eat when you need comfort.

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And we all need that at some point.

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(intriguing tranquil ethereal music)