Painting this series is an insistence on looking to the other side, the side of mystery, the unknown. For years, I identified with darkness; I painted it and believed it held what was most interesting and profound. The dramatic, the ugly, the self-destructive… all seemed to have more weight than anything colorful or happy. I thought that darkness was who I was, and expressing it became almost a therapy; though by focusing on it, I only multiplied it.