“I wanted to create something that people could relate to without having read a book about it beforehand.”

-CINDY SHERMAN

For most people, art is something they will appreciate aesthetically before moving on to do something else. It's a brief part of their day; few are willing to dig up context or listen to explanations unless they can already relate to the picture. This is why the objective of an illustrator, who translates messages into visuals for public consumption, is to make an "efficient" artwork; something clear, concise, and understandable that its target audience will recognize, and then translate into some kind of take-away message. Any time I make a piece, I approach it from an audience's mindset; does the picture communicate visually, or would I have to explain it? If words are necessary, I haven't done my job right. As important as it is for artists to challenge their viewers intellectually, there is a limit to how hard people will look for a meaning. And if they give up before they find it, the art provides no service to its viewers.