Taking a page out of Edward Hopper's book, I incorporate elements used in film such as lighting to my paintings. Film is a great resource due to its abundance and availability to the general public. I use culturally known icons such as Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) or Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O’Toole) and put them in their respective environment. By recognizing the icons, I am able to establish a common ground with the viewer and lead them more into the worlds that these characters are immersed in. My painting usually capture the charaters just before or after the climax of their situation, which ultimately intrigues the viewer into asking and sharing amongst themselves and others on how, when and why did these characters get in to that point in the painting. Currently I'm using icons such as Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) and Lone Wolf and Cub (Tomisaburo Wakayama with kid) to further broaden my view on icons internationally.
