First, you'd be surprised how many times this discussion comes up. It has been a bit surprising, a bit disturbing, and a bit disappointing how many people I encounter in the art world find my work "challenging" specifically when it comes to sales. I had one interviewer for a residency say point blank: "Your work reminds me of Leon Golub's, and he never sold any work did he, I mean his work mostly ended up in museums?" And then proceeded to tell me that he had absolutely no further questions or comments. Needless to say, I did not get into that residency. So, how do I feel about all of this? For starters, my work is my life work, and it is the most important endeavor in my life. I produce it for the good of humanity not for the good of the art market. I recognize precisely how the art world works and that the pathway to a museum show, which is my personal highest ambition, is through galleries, and I am fine with that, but I will not compromise my work for that journey, nor do I think artists need to. I believe there are enough intelligent and gutsy art purveyors and supporters out there to champion challenging work. If there aren't and we have lost our way completely, then so be it; that does not change my mission and purpose as an artist. Perhaps I have chosen a more difficult path, but really it has chosen me. I speak, through my work, about the things that I think matter most to the society I live in and what I feel is my highest and greatest good as an artist in contributing to a critique of our world and the present times; art is a profession and practice that I take with the utmost seriousness. Art matters. Culture dictates the path forward for humanity, so I will not tread lightly nor make things that I feel are "sellable" merely for the prospect of having an art career. I am not a lifestyle artist. I'm here to produce serious work, end of story.