Working from photos unexpectedly brought a sense of intimacy and freedom to painting. With the forms already determined, the focus is on application and curation. A dog laden with cigarettes, salarymen merging in sleep, an assassination attempt, a child resting on a Judd—all so ordinary and fascinating. The fact of a thing is loosened up with attention. A woman on an ox doesn't boil down into words. Painting here is a way to unstitch the photo, like unraveling a sweater and then forming the yarn into the shape of a sweater.