Interview
hint of anime about the shape of
his stylised figures. There are
suggestions of deeper connections
beneath surface isolation. There’s even
the odd beaming smile. Andrew’s
stories are a bit like his art because
both make you do some of the work.
A FATHER’S INFLUENCE
Andrew grew up seeing his dad’s
paintings all around the house. His
dad taught art in Thailand and would
draw and paint constantly. He even
drew on Andrew’s library books, which
got his son into trouble. The message
was clear: draw as much as you can,
whenever and wherever you can. Many
of these pieces depicted the landscapes
of rural Cambodia. Andrew had not
been there yet, but he was always
attracted to these images because his
dad painted them over and over again.
Andrew found his own thing:
graffiti. He started when he was very
young, drawing on his schoolbooks,
and by high school he was going out
with an older friend to spray-paint
walls at 2am. This friend was 20 andGraffiti made my transition to figure-
drawing and painting easy. Graffiti is all
cylinders and squares
had a car. Andrew was 14. His mother
had concerns, but she was happy he
was getting out and “being social.”
School was tough after being out all
night. But Andrew loved that he had
this secret life.
“I was such an awkward kid growing
up, I didn’t have any friends really.
I was into comics, and, in a strange
kind of way, this was my superhero
identity. Nobody at school knew. That
made me feel somewhat special.
“Graffiti made my transition to
figure-drawing and painting easy.
Graffiti is all cylinders and squares.
The human anatomy, when you break
it down, is all cylinders and squares.
Because I spent nine years doing
graffiti, I was comfortable making the
move to drawing anatomy.”BRING HOME
THE BACON
“The first piece in my
studio series, which was
inspired by the master,
Francis Bacon’s studio.
I saw how chaotic his
studio was and fell in
love with it.”