When I first began my journey as an artist, I encountered a thought by Arthur Danto, the long-time art critic at The Nation. He claimed that everything in painting had already been done, leaving little room for anything genuinely new. Art, he argued, merely shifted from one trend to another—abstract expressionism, pop art, neo-expressionism, postmodernism—but each movement, in his view, was only a reworking of what had come before.

Danto’s words led me to question my path. If everything had already been explored, what could I possibly contribute? Instead of following trends, I chose to focus on my own strengths and vision. As a self-taught artist in Boston, I had begun showing my work and connecting with other artists, who encouraged me to apply to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I enrolled in their MFA program in January 1988, marking a pivotal moment in my artistic development.