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Matt Crookshank is an abstract painter known for his aggressive and relentless approach. He also makes animations and video art. He is one of sixty painters in the group exhibition Sixty Painters, opening this Saturday at Humber College’s Art and Media Studios. He also has solo exhibitions in November and December of 2012 at General Hardware Contemporary in Toronto and at Galeria Estacion Cero in Oaxaca, Mexico. Crookshank received his BFA from Queen's University in 1998. His work has been featured in several publications, including The Magenta Carte Blanche painting catalogue, Canadian Art, Fashion Magazine, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and The Calgary Herald. He is currently represented by General Hardware in Toronto and by Galeria Anomalia in Mexico City.

1. My twin daughters

What can I say. I have 3.5-year-old twin daughters that are rocking my world every day. They're fraternal. Their personalities are a lot different. One likes to wear pants with pockets so she can put things in her pockets. Rocks. Dandelions. Stolen rubber dinosaurs from the ROM store. Hair dye from Shoppers Drug Mart. Now she stuffs things into her socks too. It’s remarkable. The other one likes dresses, the fancier the better. She likes to ride her bike in a dress and go to the playground in a dress and never ever wear pants. She has a lot of dresses. Other than dresses, things don't mean very much to her.

2. Johnny Paycheck

I've always had a soft spot for outlaw country, but I'd passed over Johnny Paycheck mostly because I don't like his biggest hit and I think he has a dumb name. But after listening to his entire epic output of lost country gems, I am enthralled. He was a self-destructive country madman with the voice of an angel and the songwriting skills to match. I can't believe that much talent can just get ignored and forgotten. It’s a tragedy on top of a tragedy.

3. My dog's ears

I have a pug named Oggie. Doggie without the D. His formal name is OG, but Oggie is more fun to say. He's the O.G. Lately he's been getting ear infections. I have to put medicine in his ears twice a day. I stare into them to make sure they're not getting funky. They're so strange inside. Soft and pink and wrinkly, and they go way in. It’s not Freudian, but they are an abyss all to themselves.

4. Making up songs

I have a whole album of songs, but they're just in my mind. They're like theme songs for my life, and I sing them at the right moments. I'm not a very good singer, but I have charisma, so that goes a long way. These songs are like compulsions. I don't have to think to write them; they just fly into my head as if they existed somewhere else. They make me think about parallel universes and that maybe, when you just sing out random stuff, maybe you can make a vortex to another dimension. I'm still researching this possibility. It’s a WIP.

5. William Leonard Pickard

William Leonard Pickard is a political prisoner of the drug war serving time in the US Penitentiary at Tucson, Arizona. He made all the acid in the world for twenty years. After he was arrested in 2000, there was a 90% drop in the world supply of acid. That's why there is no acid anymore. Haven't you noticed? There is none. It’s gone. One man. Made all the acid. For twenty years. And now it’s gone. That blows my mind. Acid needs to make a comeback.

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