In this early self-portrait, my aim was not to produce a photorealistic depiction of my face, but rather to capture the interior and exterior surroundings of my studio at that time. Behind me is the cupboard where I kept my sketchbooks, painting supplies and painter’s smocks; stuck to its door are a postcard featuring a Van Gogh motif, a drawing of a sunflower – my favourite flower – which my son, then aged nine, had drawn for me, and a photograph of a Globist painting – ‘ROT’, 100 x 80 cm, oil on canvas –, from 2003. On the paint shelf in front of the window stands the jug containing my brushes, pencil and tubes of paint.