Three Faces (detail), 36" x 52", oil on canvas, 1983. Museum collection.

This is the first painting of an image which I saw in a dream, committed to memory, woke up, and began to recreate. In the dream I was standing in line with some friends waiting to get into the cafe at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. One of my friends pointed to a painting hanging on a wall nearby and said to me, "That's one of yours." Somehow I knew that I was dreaming but I had the presence of mind to memorize the composition for later reference when I woke up.

I still recall the composition vividly and hope to create another version in the future. Exhibited here is about 50% of the original version which was rescued from the canvas' near destruction in the late 1980s.