IG: Most of your canvases are big. Is there a certain intimacy you have with the female nudes? They have a certain sensuality that is notable. MBM: I just love form, and to be able to work big, using a big brush. When I’m not doing that, I miss it. I do monotypes for a while, and I get very involved in them, and then I just need a bigger project. People have always been my biggest fascination. IG: Is it the tactile quality of flesh you’re attracted to? MBM: It is the color and the sculptural form that is very exciting to me. People excite me, and often I don’t even know why they excite me. I look at somebody and I want to paint them. I should be able to define it more, but I guess I define it with paint, not words.... IG: You seem to enjoy being involved with the actual material of the paint. I mean, you don’t necessarily paint very thin. MBM: No, I really use paint. I like the physicality of it. There’s a sensuous quality to paint. I like to swing a big brush. IG: It’s so liberating. In his monograph on Titian, David Rosand quotes de Kooning: “Flesh is the reason why painting was invented.” That really struck home with me. You can’t argue with it. Painting is sensual. It’s not always expressed that way. But I’ve always felt that’s the nature of the material. MBM: At least the way I like to use it. Which doesn’t mean that I don’t like things that are not painted the same way. [http://www.asllinea.org/mary-beth-mckenzie-interview/]