“I come from a small place in the north of The Netherlands. I always felt an outsider. When I was 16 years old I decided to move to Amsterdam to attend an art school. I was rejected to take part in their program but I was so determined that I decided to pay them a visit. When I came in I just started an ongoing monologue about why they should accept me in their school. The lady in charge was so surprised that she couldn’t stop laughing and decided to accept me after all. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
''We had a complicated relationship. She had a tough childhood. When she was still a baby, her mother tried to jump out of the window while holding her. As a result, she wasn't affectionate with me. I was nine when I made my first portrait of her. She had the most...