Jean-Michel Basquiat
I don't paint as much as I used to, but I'm still an artist gi korason-hu. Achokka' ti mamementa yu' kada diha, manhahasso yu' todu tiempo put pinenta yan atte. I have been inspired by many artists over the years, especially when I was an undergraduate and graduate student at UOG. At that time, I was painting a great deal and displaying and selling my artwork around the island. One of the biggest influences on me, and something which made me the butt of a great deal of "måtai na pepenta" na jokes, was my looking up to Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was one of the consummate bohemian artists, who challenged artist norms in his time, was used by the artworld during his short life, and then died. When I first created an email account for myself in 1998, I was so enamored with Basquiat, that I didn't use my name, but instead blended our names together. Rather than mlbevacqua, I instead entered mlbasquiat.