Aside from being tall, black, and suffering from inexplicable sexual frustration from years of creative hibernation and celibacy, I, Marque Terrynamahr Strickland, am an artist. I’m a real artist. I do what I do, because I don’t know how NOT to do it. I need it like I need air, and every single spare moment I have is devoted to my work. That’s the difference between me and the posers, who run around calling themselves artists, but then claim “I never have time to do it.” Losers! All the wannabees think it’s cool to be some kind of artist, which is unfair to those of us true talents. I mean, I don’t go around claiming to be an engineer-do you know why? . . . .because I suck at math and science!
        My influences are too many to name. They go from contemporary low brow painters, such as my close friends Naoto Hattori, or Sas and Colin Christian; to dead low brow/surrealist painters, like Hieronymus Bosch and Salvidor Dali; to William Shakespeare, to Beethoven; to Mike Nichols and Steven Spielberg. My mind is all over the place.
        The artists I hate (and many of you fake art appreciators, who will not give us fantastical/low brow painters a chance, because you think that the term “art” is restrictive to those sissy painters of the impressionism movement, will be offended by this-so brace yourself) are people like Pablo Picasso and, most of all, Vincent Van Gogh. The latter, I can not stand. I’m a neat freak, so I hate sloppy art work (as a child, I used to go nuts if someone bumped my arm and made me go outside the lines in my coloring book). For these reasons, and one other that I will explain in a moment, I will never be able to relate to impressionism. However, I do realize that it is a valid artistic movement from the past to be studied and explored. It’s just my personal tastes that make me dislike artists of this genre. . .actually, that is an understatement-I detest them like a disease of some sort! The biggest reason I cringe at the sound of any of their names is because most people, who don’t even know the slightest thing about wielding a paintbrush, only call these idiots “brilliant” because they think they’re supposed to! We must remember that most people, by nature, are conformists. They don’t think outside the box, because that is frowned upon, and everyone wants to be liked in order to “fit in,” right? The truth is, Vincent Van Gogh sucked, and had he been alive at the same time as Michaelangelo or Leonardo, he would have got laughed out of town! That’s enough Van Gogh bashing, I think.
        My biggest (but most impossible) wish in life is for all human beings to share unconditional love. My goal in life is to use my art to fight for this impossible wish, and keep a roof over my head and food on the table (without needing a day job) whilst doing this. And aside from all that, just maybe I would wish for all you Vincent Van Gogh lovers to experience inexplicable pain and suffering and then to burn in hell in the afterlife! (I know I’m terrible, but I just couldn’t resist that one! MU HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!!!!!!!!)

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