 This experience instilled an early interest in his family's origins, later inspiring extensive research into his family's genealogy.This research was expressed artistically in a number of paintings that track family relationships, most notably "Autobiography in the Shape of Alabama (Mammyʼs Door)" and in references to Elvis Presley, who was a distant cousin.His upbringing in the southern United States also led to a deep interest in the material culture of the South, especially in folk art and hand made, functional objects.