【Wewereextremelypoor．Wehadnohouse，nofood．Wehadnothing．Myparentshadmanyproblems．Myfamilywasalwaysontheedgeofviolence．Itwasunbelievablystressful．Therewasn'tamomenttorelaxduringmyentirechildhood．Iwantedt】

　　We were extremely poor．We had no house，no food．We had nothing．My parents had many problems．My family was always on the edge of violence．It was unbelievably stressful．There wasn't a moment to relax during my entire childhood．

　　I wanted to be an artist when I was about six．But my family was so poor that I got knocked off track by the working-class educational system and the environment I was living in．I became a street gang member，causing trouble and fighting against other groups．

　　Being a teenager with vivid imagination，a strong sense of adventure and some degree of courage，it was attractive to steal cars，drive them away，and get chased by the police．

　　If I had nothing to do，I would go to evening school to learn painting．I tried to enter one of those art schools，but I was rejected by 11schools when they heard I had been a street gang member．When I was not accepted，I cried a lot．

　　When I was finally accepted by Croydon College of Art，I felt I was in heaven．I felt that my life had been saved．I worked with great stress that other students found scary，and it scared me too．Unlike other students I could also feel a kind of happiness to do my best to realize my dream．

　　I went through a long period in my life where my art was not accepted．The only time I almost considered giving up was one morning，about 3a．m．I had an exhibition in New York．I could sell none of my works．I could not afford to live．I was so defeated．I thought maybe I should go somewhere in the middle of America and find a new job，have a car and a house with a garage．That lasted about an hour，but it was such a stressful experience．

　　Now I'm famous，and I got a lot of my works sold at a pretty high price．I think before one is famous，one has to be infamous，and before one is accepted，one has to be rejected．Painting doesn't explain itself．Painting is not an explanation．Painting doesn't try to teach．Painting is a body of experiences．Painting is called a hard business