"This piece represents me in 1989, super inspired from skateboarding and discovering graffiti for the first time. It was a time of hardships, blooming friendships, and violence simmering to the surface in Los Angeles and elsewhere. I wanted to capture myself right as I was starting to understand and question what life was all about. I was a shy art nerd and skater in high school, but the girls liked me for some reason. Maybe it was because I was also a graffiti writer. There's something heroic about breaking the law to create something beautiful."