Van Woert’s office is lofted above the studio floor, atop a room he built for his girlfriend to paint in. It holds not only his computer but his personal art collection; at left and center are two pieces by the photographer Christian Patterson. “He has a book called the Redheaded Peckerwood about these teenage killers, a mixture of fact and fiction. When one of the teens was sentenced to death via electric chair, his family was in the courtroom. Right after they announced it, the dad turns around to the family and says, 'Well, let’s all go out and get a steak.' I was like, what the… I’ll buy that.”