By the time I stand in front of a canvas, the image has often existed in my mind for a long time. But imagining a scene is only the beginning. I have to bring that vision into the physical world before I can translate it into painting.

I create and direct my own photographic productions. I develop the concept, select the models, plan the lighting, choose the costumes and construct the setting down to its smallest detail. Every object has a purpose. The toys, lollipops, sweets and accessories that appear in my work are deliberately selected, often collected long before a shooting takes place. Nothing is simply there by accident.

These productions can be extensive, resulting in thousands of photographs. Afterwards, I spend days examining them, searching for the precise moment when a gesture, an expression, a shadow or the smallest detail corresponds to what I envisioned.

Only then does the actual painting begin.

Photography, staging, technology and painting are not separate disciplines in my practice. They are interconnected stages of the same creative process. Technology helps me construct and refine the visual foundation, but the transformation into painting remains a deeply personal, physical and intuitive act.

I love every part of this process — from creating a world that does not yet exist to watching it gradually emerge on canvas.