I never felt totally confidant painting figures. Gary Catalano described the figures in my first show as like 'plasticine ETs' and I could see what he meant. The verisimilitude of these figures was never really the point for me, but it still upset me to be criticised about it. The mannerist paintings of Tintoretto weren't always all that good either, but the way they articulate the space around them was brilliant. I don't think I managed that quite so well either, but at least I was trying.

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