Surrender, stillness, reconciliation, introspection, validation, reality versus illusion, public versus private, sacred versus profane. Conflict and desire. My practice confronts the darkest facets of the human experience. I immerse myself in places others refuse to acknowledge, much less use as a creative force. My work is seldom simple, never comfortable, often disconcerting, always confrontational. I open myself to strangers as a performative transgression. Suicide, addiction, obsession, loss, displacement, disillusionment, desire, surrender: My art is not pretty. —Paul Hughes