Over the years, difficult feelings found their way into charcoal drawings and sketches. Now, with some distance, I'm bringing some of them back to life as colourful paintings — transforming something dark into something brighter, more vibrant and playful.

This is probably the oldest of these feelings, from a time before my studies when I didn't really know what I wanted to become.

I remember starting this without much of a plan — and without particularly feeling paranoid. But as the picture slowly took shape, something about it started to feel strangely real. I became increasingly uncomfortable with the feeling that I was being watched by my own painting. In a strange way, the image seemed to create the paranoia that eventually became part of the work.

Looking back, the figures could mean almost anything: something from that time, a version of myself, or simply images my mind needed to create.

The UFOs, for the record, were never about aliens. They just belonged there, adding something strange and atmospheric to the sky.