'When I look at a lot of realist painting it's as if suddenly I'm trapped in a 1950s magazine discussing ideas about good taste. The word 'now' is a dangerous one to use, as the moment you say it, it already feels dated. But anyway, I think in order for me to be a realist painter now, I must embrace a fundamental understanding: realism is uncertainty in the guise of certainty. And certainty is like an infinite point on a graph, the closer you get, the more you feel its inaccessibility.

This is such a hashtag picture, except it isn't really. The dog is remote, dignified in spite of its delicious white curls and coiffed fringe. The slasto is a piece of South Africa. It's all empty, with a dramatic sky and no people. And then there's this insanely yellow ball. There was nothing more to add.'